The Koreas | Politics | East Asia

South Korea’s Conservative Party Tanks Amid Warring Factions’ Fight for Legitimacy

The PPP ruined its local elections prospects by purging Han Dong-hoon, its former leader.

Then-PPP leader Han Dong-hoon holds an emergency press conference at the National Assembly on Dec. 4, 2024, shortly after then-President Yoon Suk-yeol’s declaration of martial law.

In mid-January, Jang Dong-hyeok, the leader of opposition People Power Party (PPP), staged a fasting sit-in in the National Assembly. He was calling for the ruling Democratic Party (DP), which wields a sizable parliamentary majority, to appoint a special counsel to investigate the DP. This was based on credible evidence that the DP had peddled a party ticket in exchange for cash. There have also been allegations of a cult’s infiltration into the DP.

Haggard and hooked onto a nasal tube, Jang managed to earn sympathy, beginning to chip away at the public support for the DP. By January 26, the PPP’s approval ratings had scaled up to almost 40 percent, a better performance than before its disgraced, imprisoned former President Yoon Suk-yeol unconstitutionally declared martial law in December 2024.

On January 29, Jang presided over the first PPP general meeting since he called off his fasting. His first move since his return to work meant a great deal in terms of how the party could take advantage of the DP’s scandals and internal discord within the liberal camp leading up to the June local elections. All eyes were duly on Jang, especially with regard to his dealing with Han Dong-hoon. 

Han led the PPP from December 2023 to April 2024 and then again from July to December 2024. In order to consolidate his control over the party, he mobilized his family in manipulating the party members’ public opinion. They posted barbed posts and comments against Yoon and his wife on the PPP website. 

Jang ordered an internal investigation, and the party ethics committee resolved in January 2026 to expel Han. During that general meeting, Jang confirmed the PPP ethics committee’s resolution to expel Han from the party.

The conservative camp convulsed in shock. Of course, what the Hans did was in no way commendable. Still, given his opposition to Yoon and the martial law declaration, Han has come to represent reason within the conservative bloc, with a significant following from the center right and moderate right wing. Closing ranks with Han should have been the PPP’s last-gasp effort to reinstate reason within South Korea’s conservatism. Ousting Han was an act of self-sabotage. 

In February, the PPP followed Han’s expulsion with a decision to suspend a pro-Han legislator’s party membership. This purging – which Han characterized as “another martial law” – reinforced the public perception that the PPP would never regain its cool. 

While most PPP legislators cowered before Yoon during his presidency, Han openly chafed at Yoon’s incompetence and his wife’s immoderate political meddling. When Yoon declared martial law in December 2024, Han went straight to the National Assembly to direct the few PPP legislators present to vote in favor of lifting martial law. This was before he found out about Yoon’s order to arrest him during the short-lived martial law. 

On December 14, when the National Assembly passed the impeachment motion against Yoon on the second try, it was most likely pro-Han PPP legislators who joined the liberal camp to reach the two-thirds majority required for presidential impeachment. The PPP party line opposed impeaching Yoon, and the party threatened to ferret out and retaliate against anyone siding with the DP.

On the other hand, Jang won the PPP chairmanship by pandering to the far- and alt-right elements of the party. Their core stance is that Yoon is God-sent; that the DP, with their parliamentary obstructionism, forced Yoon to resort to martial law; and that U.S. President Donald Trump should help the wrongly-convicted Yoon. 

Continuously validating their feelings, Jang has also insisted on Yoon’s innocence. “God had a plan behind this martial law,” he said once. On February 19, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced Yoon to life imprisonment for “undermining democratic norms.” Jang responded by downplaying the verdict – “it’s just the first ruling” – and warning that “severing ties with Yoon only sow seeds of schism.” 

The pro-Han faction went up in arms, exhorting the PPP to desert “pro-insurrection” Jang. “We need to cut away Jang for the sake of rebuilding our conservatism,” Han said. 

They were right. In late February, in one major national poll, the PPP’s approval rating marked a dismal 17 percentage point. With the June local elections around the corner, this figure rammed some sense into the PPP leadership. Plus, Oh Se-hoon, the........

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