PPP takes fight to the streets for first time in a year, weighing base mobilization against centrist outreach

The People Power Party leadership is set to hold a large street rally in central Seoul for the first time in about a year, escalating its offensive against the ruling camp. The move follows a series of visits by party leaders to livelihood and security sites in recent weeks aimed at broadening the front of criticism against the government.

However, some within the party have raised concerns that a street campaign centered on the hard-line base could become a liability in efforts to expand the party's appeal to centrist voters.

The PPP will hold a rally near Sungnyemun in central Seoul on Saturday under the banner of a "People's Action Rally for Livelihood Recovery and Security Protection to Hold the Lee Jae Myung Administration Accountable," according to political sources.

PPP Secretary-General Jeong Hee-yong said the party would "clearly convey the people's will to restore livelihoods, protect national security, stop the excesses of the Lee Jae Myung administration and the Democratic Party, and normalize state affairs."

The rally will be the party's first large-scale street demonstration in central Seoul since a gathering in front of Daehanmun gate on Sept. 28 last year. The party plans to use the event to criticize the government's overall policy agenda — from the economy and real estate to security and judicial reform — widening the front of its fight against the ruling bloc.

PPP Chief Floor Spokesperson Choi Su-jin told reporters at the National Assembly on Friday that the rally would be "a time to denounce what needs to be addressed at parliamentary audits — the Lee Jae Myung administration's lawlessness, the collapse of the judicial system, and the real estate and livelihood crisis." Specific issues to be raised include the introduction of single-stock leveraged exchange-traded funds, real estate policy, a comprehensive farmland survey, a landmine explosion in the Demilitarized Zone, and the abolition of supplementary investigative powers.

The party leadership's recent field activities are seen as directly connected to Saturday's rally. PPP leader Jang Dong-hyeok held a "Public Report on the Lee Jae Myung Administration's Policy Failures" in front of the National Assembly's main building on Sept. 22, leveling broad criticism at government policy. He then visited a military unit on Baengnyeongdo island on Tuesday to review security issues, and traveled to the Chungcheong region the following day to hear local views on the government's farmland survey.

Within the party, however, concerns about the approach and effectiveness of street campaigning are surfacing. While members broadly agree on the need to fight the ruling bloc, some worry that a rally focused on energizing the hard-line base could actually hinder efforts to win over centrist voters. A PPP lawmaker from the greater Seoul area said the party agreed with the issues being raised but was "concerned about the format of appealing to the most fervent supporters."

With the party needing to capture public sentiment in the greater Seoul area, members say the rally's effect on consolidating the existing base must be weighed against its potential impact on swing voters. Even if livelihood and real estate issues — topics of strong interest to centrists — are placed front and center, the concern is that the message could land differently depending on how the fight is waged.

The Democratic Party of Korea, meanwhile, sharpened its response to the PPP's street campaign. Democratic Party Floor Leader Han Byung-do, speaking at a policy coordination meeting at the National Assembly on Friday, called the situation "absurd and pathetic." "Does anyone know why they are holding a large rally?" Han said. "I doubt it."