Jang Dong-hyeok faces leadership test as feuds with Oh, Han escalate

People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok is locked in a series of public clashes with Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon and independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon, both considered leading figures in the conservative camp ahead of the next election cycle.

Some within the opposition bloc have called for a conservative alliance that would include Oh and Han ahead of the 2028 general election. But growing internal discord over Han's potential return to the party and questions about the PPP's leadership structure have put Jang's authority under renewed scrutiny, analysts say.

The party leadership and pro-Han factions have been trading public barbs daily over what has been dubbed the "manipulated disciplinary proceedings" allegations, which surfaced through the party's ethics committee.

On Thursday, the PPP leadership said it would move to investigate the allegations raised by ethics committee member Hwang Gyeong-seong on Wednesday. Chief Spokesperson Choi Bo-yun told reporters after a supreme council meeting that the party would go through the process of "determining exactly what basis there was for making such a statement."

In a statement released Wednesday, Hwang apologized, saying he had only recently learned the full details of what he described as fabricated disciplinary proceedings — spanning from Han's expulsion in January through the case involving lawmaker Jin Jong-oh in August — and had obtained supporting evidence.

Han responded immediately on Facebook, saying the episode had exposed the truth that "Han Dong-hoon's expulsion was a purge carried out for the political benefit of a specific individual." Han pressed Jang to come clean, writing that Jang, "who knows the truth better than anyone, should confess now and seek forgiveness before party members and the public."

Jang pushed back when speaking to reporters, saying he had been briefed that "there were no issues or disagreements in the disciplinary process" and that anyone making such claims was free to pursue legal action. Jang also sharpened his tone, saying it was hard to comment on Han — an independent — raising his own case directly, but that it was "highly inappropriate" for sitting PPP lawmakers to echo the same message and destabilize the party.

The party leadership rallied behind Jang. Supreme council member Kim Jae-won said on MBC Radio that the circumstances surrounding the disciplinary process had never been fully resolved and that Han's return to the party would create significant internal conflict.

The rift between Jang and Oh also spilled into the open. In a media interview Wednesday, Oh argued that running the 2028 general election under Jang's leadership would make it very difficult to win seats in the greater Seoul area, and called for an early transition to an emergency steering committee.

Jang fired back, saying the party should be focused on fighting the opposition — citing what he called the "Lee Jae Myung jailbreak bill" and a future response fund — and questioned whether raising internal party matters was appropriate at this time.

Han's readmission to the party has also become a flashpoint. Jang flatly ruled it out, saying there would be "no review whatsoever," while Oh insisted it was "absolutely necessary for a general election victory." Oh added, however, that a consensus among party members willing to accept the move would need to come first.

Senior lawmakers within the party are divided. Rep. Kim Tae-ho wrote on Facebook that if the decision was made under the party leader's authority, the party leader must bear responsibility for it — lending weight to calls for leadership accountability. Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo took the opposite view, warning that every time Han's return is raised, it crowds out all other issues — conservative unity, the fight against the ruling bloc, and economic policy — and suggested Han simply form a new party instead.