The main opposition People Power Party's leadership race has shaped into a fierce contest between the party’s hard-line conservative wing aligned with former President Yoon Suk Yeol and those calling for a clean break.
A potential unity bid among candidates who supported Yoon’s impeachment has emerged as a last-minute twist, with some in the bloc signaling hopes of pushing the contest into a runoff, disrupting the current lead held by Yoon loyalists.
With five days remaining until the party elects its new leader on Friday, candidates backed by Yoon loyalists are leading the race — most notably Kim Moon-soo, the party’s candidate in the June 3 presidential election.
Kim has positioned himself as a staunch defender of Yoon’s legacy since refusing to apologize for Yoon’s martial law declaration at the National Assembly last year, securing strong backing from the party’s traditional base.
Trailing behind Kim is Rep. Jang Dong-hyeok, another pro-Yoon contender who has taken a similar line as Kim and aligned himself with far-right influencers.
According to a Gallup Korea poll released Thursday, Kim had 31 percent support among People Power Party members and unaffiliated respondents, while Ahn and Jang each clung to 14 percent. Cho followed with 8 percent. The survey was conducted from Monday to Wednesday, reflecting the party’s main race formula of 80 percent party electorate and 20 percent general voters.
Four candidates clashed over the party’s direction during Sunday’s televised debate. When asked what the party should discard to survive, Kim and Jang stressed the need to overcome internal divisions, avoiding direct references to Yoon.
“The party can only survive if we discard division. We must come together, debate and cooperate to achieve unity,” Kim emphasized.
Jang warned, “Internal enemies are more dangerous than those outside. We must put an end to division and unite the party if it is to survive.”
In contrast, Reps. Ahn Cheol-soo and Cho Kyoung-tae pointed directly at Yoon and his loyalists.
“We must discard any defense of Yoon’s martial law,” Ahn argued. “Upholding the Constitution and the rule of law is the true path for conservatives.”
Cho contended, “The People Power Party must abandon Yoon Suk Yeol to survive. His unlawful martial law caused suffering for the people and betrayed conservative values.”
Amid sharp divisions, calls for a merger are increasingly gaining traction within the anti-Yoon bloc.
Former People Power Party Chair Han Dong-hoon and Rep. Yoon Hee-sook, who led the party’s reform committee aimed at restoring public trust by distancing the party from Yoon’s influence, have both publicly supported the idea of uniting what they call "common-sense candidates."
"Only through unity and sacrifice among reasonable figures can we rekindle hope," Han wrote on Facebook on Saturday.
If Ahn and Cho — representing the anti-Yoon reformist camp — were to merge their bids, they could potentially surpass the front-runners in a runoff.
Ahn has cast himself as a moderate reformer, denouncing far-right Yoon loyalists he says have eroded the conservative bloc’s identity.
Cho has focused on reviving the party as a “rational conservative force,” urging Ahn to unite under a single candidacy — a proposal Ahn has yet to answer.
Under party rules, if no candidate secures a majority in the first round, the top two will proceed to a final vote scheduled for Aug. 26.
In the meantime, Kim Moon-soo continued to rally support from the conservative base.
On Tuesday, when the special counsel investigating Yoon’s wife, Kim Keon Hee, attempted to seize party membership data from People Power Party headquarters, Kim staged a sit-in protest in the lobby, vowing to protect the list "at the cost of my life." The protest is expected to continue until the warrant expires after a week, this coming Tuesday.
Jang has taken a similar approach. On Wednesday and Friday, he held solo rallies in front of the Seoul Central District Court, calling the same probe "a politically weaponized investigation" and stressing the need to defend the party against attacks from the liberal ruling bloc.
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