The People Power Party is ending the year 2025 amid severe internal strife over the "party member bulletin board case" involving the family of former leader Han Dong-hoon. The People Power Party also went through intense infighting at the end of last year over Han's resignation.
The party affairs audit committee announced the findings of its investigation into the "party member bulletin board case" involving the family of former leader Han on the 30th and referred the matter to the party's central ethics committee. The party affairs audit committee is led by Chairperson Lee Ho-seon, appointed by Jang Dong-hyeok in September.
The party member bulletin board case concerns allegations that, from July to November last year, a party member with the same names as Han's family posted articles criticizing former President Yoon Suk-yeol and his wife and pro-Yoon lawmakers on the People Power Party's online homepage party member bulletin board. In a press release, the party affairs audit committee announced that the problematic accounts are identical to the names of Han's five family members, effectively concluding the allegations are true. The committee also said, "It could be a more serious crime than the Druking case."
Han and pro-Han lawmakers pushed back strongly. Han appeared directly on SBS radio and said, "Even looking at the audit committee's announcement, the posts are not defamation or insults; they anonymously posted editorials and columns from major dailies," adding, "At the time, Jang also went on several broadcasts and strongly explained that the (party board controversy) was a political attack on Han Dong-hoon and that anonymous bulletin board posts were not a problem."
Pro-Han lawmaker Bae Hyun-jin also criticized, saying, "A key postholder, the party affairs audit chair, keeps barging in at every critical moment of the party's grave struggle, performing personal politics without reading the room," and, "The damage to the party is immense." Lawmaker Park Jung-hoon added, "In a standoff with plenty of material for an offensive against the ruling bloc, there is internal backstabbing."
Lawmaker Jung Sung-kook also criticized both the audit committee and Jang, saying, "Is the then-senior supreme councilor Jang Dong-hyeok, who just a year ago called them 'posts that are not a problem,' a different person from Jang Dong-hyeok, the current party leader?"
On the other hand, some are calling on Han to apologize. People Power Party supreme council member Kim Min-su appeared on YTN radio's "Kim Young-soo's The Interview" and said, "If, while sitting in the most responsible seat, you engaged in irresponsible behavior like the party board case, even that alone makes it hard to move forward together."
The suddenly announced findings of the party board case swiftly erased the conciliatory mood within the People Power Party. On the 24th, Han first reached out to Jang, who had completed a 24-hour filibuster, saying, "You worked hard." Some predicted a possible Jang-Han alliance ahead of the local elections. But in just a week, that mood completely flipped.
At the end of 2024, the People Power Party also faced turmoil over Han. After the National Assembly passed the impeachment motion against former President Yoon, pro-Yoon figures repeatedly demanded Han's resignation, exposing serious internal conflict in the process. A year later, the party still has not resolved the internal feud surrounding Han.
A first-term lawmaker from the People Power Party said, "At a time when centrist expansion is crucial, we are not resolving internal conflict but rather amplifying it, so dissatisfaction with the Jang Dong-hyeok leadership is bound to be great," adding, "We urgently need a reform plan to rebound the party's stubbornly flat approval ratings."
There is also deep unease about the Lee Jae-myung administration expanding toward the center by appointing conservative figures such as Lee Hye-hoon and Kim Sung-sik. While the Lee Jae-myung administration is reaching out to centrist conservatives through appointments, the People Power Party under Jang Dong-hyeok is focusing only on factional infighting and becoming isolated as a Yeongnam regional party.
Yoo Jeong-bok, the Incheon mayor from the People Power Party, said in an interview on "KBS1 Radio Jeonggyeok Sisa" on the 30th, "We can lead the election to victory when we move the public by showing that the People Power Party is changing through innovation," adding, "Innovation comes first."
Jang plans to visit former Presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye early in the new year. The plan is to hear candid advice on reform measures, but some within the party are voicing criticism that advice from former presidents will be of little help at a time when centrist expansion is urgent.