People Power Party Surpasses Democratic Party Approval Ratings: "Focus on Confronting Administration and Targeting the 2030 Generation Proves Effective"

Possibility of Party Organization Crisis Designation Depending on Ethics Committee Retrial

On Han Donghun’s Role: "Not a Venue for Individual Politician’s Presence"

On September 14, the People Power Party assessed that its lead over the Democratic Party in the recent public opinion poll resulted from a series of missteps by the government and the ruling party, as well as the party's strong confrontational stance toward the current administration.

Park Sunghoon, the chief spokesperson for the People Power Party, stated during a briefing after the Supreme Council meeting that “The decline in the Democratic Party’s support rate can be attributed to the failures of Lee Jaemyung’s government, which has been disconnected from public livelihood issues. In addition to mismanagement of real estate and stock market policies, the lack of qualifications and ethical standards of the nominees for confirmation hearings—standards which differ greatly from ordinary citizens’ sense of justice—also contributed to the decline in support.”

Jang Donghyuk, the leader of the People Power Party (center front), and the party leadership attending a meeting. Photo by Hyunmin Kim

Regarding the rise in the People Power Party's approval rating, Park pointed to the party's focus on confronting the administration rather than internal strife, and in particular, its continued efforts to reach out to the younger 20s and 30s demographic. Park evaluated, “Our decision to concentrate on a strong stance against the current administration, rather than engage in internal disputes and divisions, proved to be effective. The leadership’s strategic appeal to those in their 20s and 30s—who are highly sensitive to issues of fairness and common sense—also contributed to the increase in support.”

According to a public opinion poll on party approval ratings released by Realmeter on this day, the People Power Party ranked first with a 42.1% approval rating, up by 4.5 percentage points from the previous week. The Democratic Party, which had led last week, fell by 5.7 percentage points to 36.1%, landing in second place. The Rebuilding Korea Party registered at 4.7%, while both the Progressive Party and the Reform Party recorded 1.3% each.

This poll was conducted by Realmeter at the request of Energy Economy News on September 10 and 11, targeting 1,003 men and women aged 18 and over nationwide via automated response to mobile phones. The margin of error is ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level, with a response rate of 3.6%. For further details, please refer to the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.

Additionally, Park mentioned the possibility that, depending on the results of the Central Ethics Committee's disciplinary appeal review scheduled for 11 a.m., the constituencies of lawmakers Seo Beomsoo and Kwon Youngjin may be designated as “dysfunctional local party chapters.” He explained, “According to our party constitution and regulations, if a local chapter chief receives a disciplinary action amounting to suspension of party membership or more, the position becomes automatically vacant, and the decision takes effect upon written notification of the disciplinary resolution.”

Regarding the timing of appointing new local chapter chiefs, he said, “Since the Special Committee on Organizational Reinforcement is handling the relevant process, it is difficult to comment at this moment. We will ensure procedural completeness by comprehensively considering possible legal responses after the review decision.”

Ahead of the confirmation hearing for Kim Seungwon, nominee for Minister of Justice, Park also issued a check against independent lawmaker Han Donghoon. Park emphasized, “The confirmation hearing is an occasion to assess the nominee’s qualifications from the perspective of the public, not to elevate the profile of a particular politician. Verification of the nominee’s eligibility will be carried out through teamwork, not individual action.”

He added, “Following the voluntary withdrawal of candidate Yong Hyein, there is growing public sentiment hoping for a domino effect leading to Kim’s withdrawal or rescinding of the nomination. We will do our utmost to prevent Kim from being appointed as Minister of Justice.”

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