Hong Joonpyo: "PPP Performed Well Despite Difficulties... Must Respond to Pro-Han Faction's Rise"

With Han Dong-hoon's Victory, Conservative Factional Competition Intensifies
Ruling and Opposition Parties Offer Diverging Interpretations of June 3 Public Sentiment

Former Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo commented on the results of the June 3 local elections, evaluating that the People Power Party "performed well even under difficult circumstances." He also urged the leadership under Jang Dong-hyuk to pursue party reform and solidify authentic conservatism within the party.

On the day following the local elections, June 4, former Mayor Hong used his social media account to praise Jang Dong-hyuk's leadership, while also expressing concerns about the rise of the pro-Han Dong-hoon faction. Specifically, he stated, "Although the pro-Han faction's ascendancy is expected, I hope the leadership under Jang Dong-hyuk will respond wisely and establish authentic conservatism through party innovation."

Former Mayor of Daegu, Hong Junpyo. Photo by Yonhap News

Additionally, Hong Joon-pyo commented on the election results, saying, "Numerically, the government and ruling party won, but it is hard to call it a sweeping victory." He added, "I hope they will carefully listen to the public sentiment and pursue inclusive politics." Regarding the Daegu mayoral election, he remarked, "I am concerned about Daegu's next 100 years," and added, "I hope the winner, Chu Kyung-ho, will overcome challenges and perform well."

In this local election, the People Power Party was generally outperformed by the Democratic Party of Korea, but managed to defend its stronghold in Seoul and secured conservative base regions such as Daegu, North Gyeongsang, and South Gyeongsang, thus avoiding the worst possible outcome. In the metropolitan mayoral elections, the Democratic Party won in 12 regions while the People Power Party was victorious in 4.

Notably, in the Seoul mayoral race, Oh Se-hoon of the People Power Party succeeded in a last-minute turnaround and managed to secure the capital. In Daegu, Chu Kyung-ho won a close contest against Kim Boo-kyum of the Democratic Party, and the conservative camp also held onto seats in North and South Gyeongsang provinces. However, from a nationwide perspective, since the People Power Party ceded a significant portion of local authority to the Democratic Party, criticism of Jang Dong-hyuk's leadership appears inevitable. Within and outside the party, there are voices praising the defense of Seoul and the traditional conservative strongholds in TK (Daegu & North Gyeongsang) and South Gyeongsang, but at the same time, there are also calls for reform due to the failure to expand support in the capital area and the Chungcheong region.

In the midst of this, in the National Assembly by-elections, the People Power Party performed well in some areas, which is seen as partially offsetting the shock of the local election defeat. However, as internal conflicts surrounding former leader Han Dong-hoon, the rise of the pro-Han faction, and questions of responsibility directed at Jang Dong-hyuk's leadership all intersect, competition over the direction of the conservative camp is expected to intensify further after the elections.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.