PPP confronts escalating internal divide before local elections

As the June 3 local elections approach, the People Power Party is grappling with what many describe as a sustained polling slump, highlighting a widening gap between its core supporters and the broader electorate. A recent survey found that a sizable share of PPP backers believe the Dec. 3 declaration of emergency martial law did not constitute insurrection. Analysts say the party is drifting further from mainstream public sentiment and hardening ideologically, as moderate conservatives turn away in frustration while party leader Jang Dong-hyeok declines to distance himself from former President Yoon Suk Yeol.

According to a Korea Gallup survey conducted from Feb. 24 to 26 among 1,000 adults nationwide and released on Feb. 27, 43 percent of respondents said they support the Democratic Party of Korea, while 22 percent backed the People Power Party. The poll, conducted through telephone interviews, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level. Further details are available on the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission. The PPP’s 22 percent approval rating marks its lowest level since Jang took office on Aug. 26 last year, according to Korea Gallup data. The party recorded the same 22 percent rating in the fourth week of January and the second week of February, when it was mired in intense internal strife, including the expulsion of former leader Han Dong-hoon.

The survey also revealed a sharp divide over perceptions of the Dec. 3 emergency martial law declaration. Among PPP supporters, only 21 percent said the measure amounted to insurrection, while 68 percent said it did not. In contrast, 64 percent of all respondents said the declaration constituted insurrection, compared with 24 percent who disagreed.

Some analysts attribute the party’s declining support to its deepening ideological rigidity. In the latest Korea Gallup survey, 207 of 1,000 respondents identified themselves as supporters of the People Power Party, fewer than the 438 who backed the Democratic Party of Korea and the 280 who described themselves as independents. That marks a sharp drop from the second week of January, when 258 respondents said they supported the PPP.

Within the party, some members warn that the widening gap between internal sentiment and public opinion signals a crisis with no clear exit strategy. They argue that as the leadership of Jang Dong-hyeok remains anchored to its core base and out of sync with the broader electorate, continued radicalization among supporters could hamper efforts to regain reform momentum even after the local elections. Some also caution that with electoral prospects dimming, the party risks drifting toward political marginalization.

Rep. Kim Yong-tae, a first-term lawmaker from the Seoul metropolitan area who previously served as interim leader, said in a telephone interview that the party’s approval rating reflects an emergency. He added that a more serious emergency is the party’s failure to acknowledge the depth of its predicament. Kim warned that by defending the Dec. 3 emergency martial law declaration, the leadership is effectively surrendering the ground of moderate conservatism to the Democratic Party of Korea.


이상헌 dapaper@donga.com