Jang Dong-hyeok of the People Power Party said on the 26th, "The reason an opposition party exists is to fight the regime's tyranny and protect the people's sovereignty," adding, "To do that, we must first build our own capacity. I will fill the party with talent who can fight properly."
On the morning of the day at the central headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, Jang held a news conference marking the first anniversary of his inauguration and laid out his plans for the remaining one-year term. The plans Jang outlined fall into two broad categories: accelerating a party centered on its members and intensifying attacks on the Lee Jae-myung administration.
Jang said, "The very reason an opposition party exists is to fight the regime's tyranny and protect the people's sovereignty. To do that, we must first build our own capacity," adding, "I will push forward vigorously with 'reform from within' to make the People Power Party a strong party."
Jang called this the "People Power Party 2.0, four innovation projects." He said, "We will expand party members' sovereignty by allowing members to take part directly in electing city and provincial party chairs and constituency party heads," adding, "We will promote measures to strengthen members' sense of ownership, such as mobile membership cards and segmenting the membership system. We will also upgrade the party's organizational management system, including improving metrics for party affairs audits and systematizing member education."
To that end, he said, "We will promptly launch the 'Party Members' Sovereignty 2.0 Committee,'" adding, "We will also revamp the evaluation system for elected officials in line with conservatism's values of the era. We will build a new evaluation system for National Assembly members, metropolitan mayors and governors, basic-level heads, and local council members."
He also said he will work to build alliances with all conservative forces so the People Power Party can be the "eldest brother of conservatism." Jang said, "We will revamp the party platform and basic policies to match the values of a changing era," adding, "We will establish a 'Committee for Establishing Conservative Identity' to take responsibility for and drive all these tasks."
He will also step up his offensive against the Lee Jae-myung administration. Jang said he will expand and reorganize the special committee for normalizing real estate policy and set up a "task force to get to the bottom of single-stock leveraged ETFs." He also said he will push to resume President Lee Jae-myung's trial and pursue reforms of the National Election Commission and the election system to restore suffrage.
Jang said, "Korea now stands at the last threshold of dictatorship," adding, "President Lee Jae-myung is destroying judicial order and intimidating the judiciary to cancel his own trial. He is even dreaming of a constitutional amendment to allow a second term. The destruction of judicial order is the starting station of dictatorship. The final station of dictatorship is the deprivation of the people's sovereignty."
Citing a string of recent botched police investigations, he also said he will throw weight behind legislation to restore supplementary investigation authority, measures to restore press freedom, and youth housing policies. Jang emphasized, "We must win a majority in the 2028 general election. We must take back power," adding, "The People Power Party must build a government with a large ruling party and small opposition parties that can take responsibility and run state affairs properly."