Despite continuing calls for resignation… six reasons the Jang Dong-hyuk leadership will remain firm for a while - 경향신문

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“Baffling stories from the National Assembly and political circles, as relayed by political desk reporters.”

Although a chain of calls for Chair Jang Dong-hyuk to step down is emerging among some People Power Party leaders and lawmakers, the leadership under Jang is expected to remain firm for a while. Inside the party, reasons cited include the 6·3 local elections ballot-paper shortage, strong cohesion within the leadership, and fear among former mainstream lawmakers regarding the readmission of Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon. Bringing together accounts from both the pro-leadership and anti-leadership camps, we summarize six reasons the Jang leadership can hold out.

On the 15th, People Power Party Supreme Council member Yang Hyang-ja called for the entire leadership to step down at a Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly. The photo shows Supreme Council member Yang Hyang-ja (left) and Chair Jang Dong-hyuk entering the meeting that day. Yonhap News

Yang Hyang-ja, a People Power Party Supreme Council member, proposed that the entire leadership step down at the Supreme Council meeting on the 15th, saying that “the majority of the public and supporters, seeing the result of this election, would have thought that the entire leadership, including me, would step down.” Yang said, “Regrettably, our leadership is now called ‘zombie leadership’.”

Cho Kwang-han, a pro-leadership Supreme Council member, countered that there was no reason to resign, citing rising party approval ratings and saying, “Some immature groups within the party are noisily speaking in alien language.” After Yang spoke, Chair Jang took the microphone again and, again citing the ratings, said, “Calling the leadership zombies is an insult to the people who gave their support,” and asked that efforts be united on the ballot-paper issue.

On the 12th as well, Supreme Council member Woo Jae-joon argued for a mass resignation at the Supreme Council meeting, and the party reformist lawmakers’ group ‘Alternative and Future’ issued a statement urging Jang to step down. Although internal pressure continues, the Jang leadership appears likely to remain in place for a while.

Pro-leadership figures point first to the ballot-paper shortage that erupted during the 6·3 local elections. A pro-leadership figure, A, said in a phone call that “the protests by citizens over the ballot-paper shortage also reflect discontent among the younger generation with the Lee Jae Myung government and the ruling party,” adding, “because we face a major external problem that must be solved, the just cause lies with Chair Jang.” The pro-leadership view is that “when a war breaks out, internal conflict will weaken.”

The second is the tight cohesion of the pro-leadership Supreme Council. A realistic scenario for the collapse of the Jang leadership would be a collective resignation by the Supreme Council members. Under the People Power Party charter and rules, if 4 of the 5 elected Supreme Council members quit, the leadership falls.

Of the five elected Supreme Council members, Woo Jae-joon and Yang Hyang-ja have advocated a mass resignation, but the other three, Shin Dong-wook, Kim Min-su, and Kim Jae-won, are seen as unlikely to resign. Shin Dong-wook, viewed by the non-leadership camp as the key figure in any leadership collapse, was said in a closed-door meeting that day to have asked Yang to state whether she would continue attending future meetings. Even if Woo and Yang step down, if Chair Jang holds a by-election for Supreme Council seats, the leadership structure could be further strengthened.

The third is polling support. In party approval ratings announced that day from a Realmeter survey commissioned by Energy Economy News of 1,002 adults on the 11th and 12th, the People Power Party scored 44.3%, leading the Democratic Party (38.0%) beyond the margin of error. Citing this poll, Chair Jang and other pro-leadership figures rebutted the calls for resignation.

However, a non-leadership figure said in a phone call that “the rise in the polls is due to the Myeong·Cheong (President Lee Jae Myung·Democratic Party leader Jeong Cheong-rae) clash, the National Election Commission ballot-paper shortage issue, and the emergence of presidential contenders (Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon·Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon), but the pro-leadership camp is interpreting it to suit its own convenience.” The survey used an automated mobile response method; the sampling error is ±3.1 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, and the response rate is 3.8%. For details, see the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission website.

The fourth is fear among mainstream People Power Party lawmakers about the readmission of Han Dong-hoon. If Chair Jang resigns, the sequence could be ‘formation of an emergency committee→readmission of Han→Han running in the party convention,’ creating a possibility that Han becomes the next leader. A pro-leadership figure, B, said in a phone call, “Mainstream lawmakers in the party dread the prospect that Han comes in, becomes party leader, and they must implore him for general election nominations,” adding, “this side has troops but no general, so Chair Jang will be needed.”

The fifth is that Chair Jang has no authority over nominations for the general election during his term (which ends in August 2027), and that any party leader elected after his resignation would serve only the remainder of the term. If more than six months remain, only the remainder is served. A non-leadership lawmaker told this reporter, “For lawmakers eyeing the next party leadership, there is no need to rush. If the party convention is held in haste, the winner serves only the remainder,” adding, “if they want to exercise nomination authority for the general election, a later convention is better.”

Sixth, even the general meeting of lawmakers, which non-leadership figures see as a chance to rally around calls for Jang’s resignation, may turn out to be a dud because of timing. A senior floor official told this reporter, “We will hold the caucus on the 18th, either right before the plenary session or earlier,” adding, “if it is on the day of the plenary, time will be short, and if it is before the plenary (a time when, right after an election, many lawmakers remain in their districts), many lawmakers will not attend.”