PPP lawmakers will rally around Oh Se-hoon, says Park Jeong-ha

People Power Party lawmaker Park Jeong-ha predicted Tuesday that PPP lawmakers would coalesce around Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon following his acquittal on appeal in a political funds law case.

Speaking on MBC Radio that day, Park said the party's majority could be described as "anti-Jang, non-Han" — referring to party leader Jang Dong-hyeok and lawmaker Han Dong-hoon — and that the ruling had given them a reason to gather. "There was no particular occasion for those people to come together, but I think the ruling will lead many of them to lean toward Mayor Oh for now," he said.

Park said a movement centered on Oh would begin to take shape ahead of the 2028 general election and candidate nominations. "For the party to earn the public's trust, individual lawmakers judge things by the party's image and by who its standard-bearer is," he said. "Right now, many lawmakers inside the party are indifferent — or have simply disengaged — when it comes to party leader Jang."

He went on to say that anti-Han sentiment remained a factor as well. "There is still what I would call fear — an anti-Han feeling — toward lawmaker Han Dong-hoon," Park said. "There will certainly be a movement of people gathering around Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who carries a different image, with an eye toward him as a future presidential prospect."

Park also said Oh's appellate acquittal would benefit Han. "Our party does not have an image that the public would describe as broadly moderate conservative or centrist," he said. "People are expecting the party to change that image first and to see new faces in the leadership."

He added that the party's approval rating had risen sharply when Oh won his mayoral race, when lawmaker Yoo Eui-dong won in Pyeongtaek, and when Han performed well in Busan as an independent. "Expectations are building around those kinds of results, so I think it is a welcome development," Park said.

"Whether it is Oh Se-hoon, Han Dong-hoon, Yoo Seung-min or Lee Jun-seok, I believe that some form of alliance that drives change in the party's direction and forms a new axis will also benefit lawmaker Han," he said.

On calls from the broader pro-government camp to impeach Chief Justice Jo Hee-dae, Park drew a clear line. "I do not see how the ruling on Mayor Oh is connected to the impeachment of Chief Justice Jo," he said.

He criticized the Democratic Party's attempt to link the two as resting on the premise that "all judges move in lockstep with the same thinking at the same time." "Individual judges each make their own independent judgments," Park said. "The Supreme Court has not weighed in on the high court's ruling, nor has anyone been detained or indicted over it — so I think it is a far-fetched argument."