[Editorial] People Power Party's Invitation to Park Geun-hye Signals Regression

Former President Park Geun-hye will attend a People Power Party lawmakers’ workshop held in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, on August 27. This follows a visit by Floor Leader Jeong Jeom-sik, who asked for her attendance on August 19. During a roughly 20-minute public lecture, former President Park is expected to share her thoughts on the future direction for the People Power Party and emphasize the importance of unity. It is unprecedented for a former president to attend a parliamentary workshop such as this. The fact that the People Power Party feels compelled to call back a former president who was removed from office by a unanimous decision of the Constitutional Court in 2017 underscores the party’s current level of internal turmoil.

The ongoing, unresolved internal conflict within the People Power Party, lacking any unifying force, has led to the invitation of former President Park. For the first time since her impeachment, she visited the National Assembly in January of this year, where she persuaded leader Jang Dong-hyeok to end his hunger strike. During the local elections on June 3, she campaigned in Daegu and other regions nationwide to support party candidates. While her close aide, Assemblyman Yoo Young-ha, has said that Park has left active politics, her decision to lecture at the lawmakers' workshop suggests she is already exerting considerable real-world political influence. There is nothing inherently wrong with a former president expressing their political views or offering advice to politicians—it is understandable and, in some respects, even desirable. However, delivering a public lecture at an official political event is a different matter altogether.

Under leader Jang’s stewardship, the People Power Party has failed to inspire hope among the public. The party abandoned its efforts to broaden its base to moderates and instead reverted to the “past.” It has relied on regressive “rigged election” claims and hardline fandom politics, without demonstrating accountability. Now, even the leader’s messages no longer carry weight. The gravitas expected of the main opposition party is steadily eroding. Internal divisions have led to various figures merely voicing their own opinions, with no single “adult” to mediate, unify, and lead the party.

The return of former President Park, who was impeached, lies on this same trajectory of regression. There is no future here, only the past. Only Yeongnam remains—not the capital region. Only party members remain—not the broader public. There is no renewal, only a return to old ways. This fundamentally contradicts the hopes of the public who wish to see the People Power Party reborn as a rational conservative party focused on the future and the issues affecting people’s livelihoods.

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