PPP urges Kim Min-seok to break from Lee Jae Myung, govern for the people

The People Power Party on Monday congratulated Kim Min-seok on his election as the new leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, while calling on him to pursue "responsible politics for the nation and the people — not for the interests of the Lee Jae Myung administration and the Democratic Party."

PPP chief spokesperson Park Sung-hoon said in a statement that the party would "always extend a hand for cooperation on people's livelihoods and the national interest," but would "firmly stand against anything that undermines democracy and the rule of law."

Park said Kim's choices would determine whether the Democratic Party remains "a ruling party that shields Lee Jae Myung" or transforms into "a responsible ruling party for the people." He added that a governing party must never be reduced to a "shield" defending the president against legal jeopardy.

He also urged the new leader to move away from confrontational politics driven by hardline supporters, to treat the opposition as a partner in governance, and to listen to the public rather than the president.

Park added that the convention had further entrenched what he described as a "one-pole system" in which President Lee and the ruling party move "in effect as one body." He also said President Lee had invited criticism by using the semiconductor industry — a matter of long-term national importance — as "political spoils" to boost Kim's candidacy, amounting to overt interference in the Democratic Party's convention.

Park also said Kim's calls during the convention to completely abolish prosecutors' supplementary investigative powers, and his characterization of the resumption of President Lee's trial as "violence" and "barbarism," directly undermined "the constitutional values of judicial independence and the separation of powers." He said the PPP was "deeply concerned" about whether the Democratic Party could truly govern for the people going forward.

PPP floor spokesperson Choe Eun-seok said in a separate statement that with a new leader in place, "the Democratic Party must now change." He stressed that with people's livelihoods under such serious strain, the party should not be preoccupied with paving the way for the president's re-election. Rewriting laws and institutions to halt or nullify trials involving the president was even more unacceptable, he said.

Choe added that he hoped Kim would be "a ruling party leader who can speak hard truths about misguided governance, not one who shields the president," and called on the party to return to politics of dialogue and compromise with the opposition rather than steamrolling it with a commanding legislative majority.