PPP leadership-resignation calls mount as Jang's fate hangs in balance

Internal turmoil at the People Power Party is deepening, with fresh calls for a full leadership resignation over accountability for the June 3 local election results. This week is shaping up as a turning point for party leader Jang Dong-hyeok, whose future has become the party's most contentious issue.

Supreme Council member Yang Hyang-ja called for the entire leadership to step down at Monday's Supreme Council meeting. "Politics is ultimately about responsibility, and a leader is someone who takes responsibility," she said, formally proposing a collective resignation. Her call followed a similar demand from fellow council member Woo Jae-jun, marking the second such push from within the leadership in quick succession.

Yang said the PPP leadership had come to be known as a "zombie leadership" and urged her colleagues to act quickly. "We must step aside as soon as possible so that a successor leadership can set things right and guide the party," she said.

Under the PPP's party charter, if four or more of the five elected Supreme Council members resign, the council is dissolved and the party transitions to an emergency committee structure.

However, three of the five current elected members — Kim Min-su, Shin Dong-wook and Kim Jae-won — are aligned with the party's ruling faction, making an immediate dissolution unlikely.

Jang made clear he has no intention of stepping down, saying in additional remarks at Monday's council meeting that the party should focus on the voices of citizens gathered at Olympic Park demanding action. Cho Gwang-han, an appointed council member named by Jang, also came to his defense. "If the party leader fails to win the hearts of party members after working hard through his term, the members can pass judgment then," Cho said.

Floor leader Jeong Jeom-sik's office said the party plans to hold an emergency caucus either Wednesday or Thursday morning, before the National Assembly plenary session. If convened, the meeting is expected to draw a wave of resignation demands from younger lawmakers and those aligned with former President Han Duck-soo.

Adding to the pressure on Jang, a new poll showed the Democratic Party of Korea recording its lowest approval rating since President Lee Jae Myung took office, with the PPP overtaking it — a result that could influence how the leadership dispute unfolds.

A Realmeter survey commissioned by Energy Economy News and conducted June 11–12 among 1,002 adults aged 18 and older nationwide showed the Democratic Party's support falling 3.8 percentage points from the previous week to 38 percent, while the PPP rose 3.2 percentage points to 44.3 percent over the same period.

The survey was conducted entirely via automated response on mobile phones. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level, with a response rate of 3.8 percent. (For details, see the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission website.) Realmeter said the PPP's gains appeared to reflect its aggressive response to the election-fraud controversy — including pushing for a parliamentary investigation into the National Election Commission and sponsoring a special prosecutor act — which helped draw support from progressive and centrist voters as well as those in their 20s.