PPP's internal turmoil deepens as martial law anniversary approaches

Rep. Jang Dong-hyeok, leader of the main opposition People Power Party, stands at the National Assembly in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap

The main opposition People Power Party (PPP) is facing deepening internal turmoil, as lawmakers remain sharply divided over how the party should mark the first anniversary of the martial law fiasco.

Party leader Rep. Jang Dong-hyeok is under growing pressure to issue a public apology for the political upheaval triggered by former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who entered office as the PPP-backed candidate. Yoon abruptly declared martial law on Dec. 3 last year and was impeached in April over the incident.

One year on, the conservative party continues to grapple with Yoon’s tarnished legacy, its approval ratings still far below those of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea. Within the PPP, calls are mounting for a decisive break from the former president as leaders seek to improve the party’s prospects ahead of next June’s local elections.

"We failed to prevent the (former) president's misjudgment. We neither checked nor restrained the power that we ourselves created," Yang Hyang-ja, a member of the PPP’s Supreme Council, said Monday during a meeting.

"We must ask ourselves whether we are still stuck on Dec. 3 last year, and whether it is our own leadership that is holding back party members and supporters who want to move forward. We need to look ahead," she added.

Jang, who was present at the meeting, did not make any comments regarding Yang's remarks.

"There was no discussion on the martial law issue during the closed session of the meeting. Regarding the message for the first anniversary of the martial law, the party leader is currently listening to various opinions and considering his next steps," PPP spokesperson Park Sung-hoon told reporters after the meeting.

The leadership's caution reflects concerns that a formal apology could have limited impact on voter sentiment and potentially backfire.

Some worry that issuing such a statement could entangle the PPP in the DPK's portrayal of the conservative party as aligned with "insurrectionist forces," a label linked to those involved in the martial law imposition.

Other members have also urged party leadership to issue an apology.

"If we fail to break ties with the Yoon Suk Yeol era and instead become a party that panders to 'Yoon again,' we will never earn the hearts of voters in next year's local elections," Rep. Bae Hyun-jin wrote Sunday on Facebook, referring to far-right loyalists who continue to defend the former president's martial law declaration.