Can young People Power Party leader fix fractured bloc?

Kim Yong-tae, second from left, interim leader nominee of the People Power Party (PPP), attends the party's election campaign meeting at PPP headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, Monday. Joint Press Corps

A new face has emerged at the helm of the conservative People Power Party (PPP).

Kim Yong-tae, 35, was tapped as the PPP's interim leader as the party officially kicked off its 22-day campaign Monday for the June 3 presidential election.

His appointment will be confirmed at the party’s national committee meeting on Thursday. Kim succeeds Kwon Young-se, who resigned last week amid internal strife over a proposed merger of presidential candidates.

Kim, the youngest lawmaker in the PPP, is poised to become its youngest-ever leader. He was first elected to the National Assembly in the 2024 general election, representing the Pocheon-Gapyeong constituency in Gyeonggi Province. Prior to that, he served on the party’s youth Supreme Council.

The young politician now faces the urgent task of uniting a fractured party and leading it to victory in the presidential election, with former Labor Minister Kim Moon-soo running as the PPP’s candidate.

His appointment comes amid deepening divisions within the party following a failed attempt by its leadership to replace Kim Moon-soo, who won the primary, with former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo in a last-minute bid to merge candidacies.

The attempted candidate switch — spearheaded by floor leader Kweon Seong-dong and several senior figures — threw the PPP into a week of turmoil before the plan was ultimately scrapped on Saturday following a vote by the entire party.

Kim’s appointment as leader signals a push for reform, as the PPP seeks to refresh its image and overcome internal strife ahead of the election. His younger profile is seen as a shift away from the conservative image of its 73-year-old presidential candidate.

The new leader pledged to restore public trust through bold reforms.

“What the PPP needs most right now is communication, reform and unity. At the heart of communication is the courage to acknowledge both achievements and mistakes for what they are," he said during a speech at an election committee meeting.

From left, People Power Party (PPP) floor leader Kweon Seong-dong, PPP presidential candidate Kim Moon-soo and Kim Yong-tae, the party's interim leader nominee, hold their arms up during an election campaign committee meeting at the party's headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, Monday. Yonhap

Still, it remains unclear whether the two Kims, who seem to have little in common, can work together smoothly.

The older Kim, a former labor activist-turned-conservative stalwart, is known for his hardline views and controversial remarks that have drawn fire from liberal opponents. In contrast, the younger Kim is a first-term lawmaker with little factional ties within the conservative party.

The two already seem to have differing views on former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s Dec. 3 martial law declaration, which ultimately led to his impeachment in April.

"The PPP must admit that the martial law imposed by its own president was wrong, that the party failed to hold the president accountable and that the party had failed to establish genuine cooperation with the president even before the martial law," Kim Yong-tae said during his speech on Monday.

In contrast, Kim Moon-soo had previously defended Yoon's imposition of martial law, refusing to join other Cabinet members in apologizing at the National Assembly. This stance helped him garner support from hardline conservatives.

Beyond building rapport with the candidate, another key test for the interim leader will be managing relations with senior party figures who are closely aligned with Yoon.

The pro-Yoon faction already has a history of clashing with younger, reform-minded leaders.

In 2021, Lee Jun-seok became the youngest-ever leader of then-opposition PPP, but lost his political footing in the party after repeated conflicts with Yoon loyalists. Lee left the PPP in 2023 to launch the Reform Party and has since become one of the PPP’s most outspoken critics.

"It is meaningless for the PPP to appoint a new leader only for the presidential election without a long-term vision for transformation," Lee said Monday during a press conference. "In a situation where the party's right-wing tendencies have become only stronger, Kim Yong-tae's role will be limited."