How MAGA-fueled infighting is dooming Korean conservatives: PPP support stagnant despite Lee Jae-Myung’s collapsing approval rating

President Lee Jae-myung’s job approval rating has entered a “dead cross,” with negative assessments overtaking positive ones, but the opposition People Power Party has failed to reap any political benefit and its support remains stagnant. With no clear breakthrough in sight, conflict over whether the party should appeal to its hard-line base or the political center has intensified, deepening internal divisions within the PPP.
According to a Korea Gallup wireless telephone interview survey of 1,000 adults nationwide conducted from Aug. 11 to 13, positive assessments of Lee’s job performance fell 7 percentage points from the previous survey to 44%. Negative assessments, meanwhile, rose 8 percentage points to 46%. Over the same period, support for the People Power Party rose just 2 percentage points to 25%, leaving it 16 points behind the Democratic Party, which stood at 41%. Despite the clear decline in Lee’s approval rating, the PPP has been unable to break out of the 20% range in which its support has remained stuck since Jang Dong-hyuk became party leader last August.
One reason cited for the PPP’s failure to benefit from Lee’s declining approval is its “never-ending internal infighting,” according to a first-term lawmaker. The party has recently been divided even over how to characterize the National Election Commission’s mishandling of the local elections—whether as a fraudulent, manipulated or merely poorly administered election. Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun, who has emphasized administrative failures, challenged Rep. Na Kyung-won, who has stressed allegations of fraud, to a debate on Aug. 13. Na immediately rejected the proposal, saying Yoon was “barking up the wrong tree.” Jang Ye-chan, a former deputy director of the Yeouido Institute who is considered close to Jang Dong-hyuk, directly attacked Yoon on his YouTube channel on Aug. 14, saying, “It looks like it will be difficult for him to continue his political career in the People Power Party.”
Unilateral actions by some lawmakers despite attempts by the leadership to restrain them have further aggravated the discord. After a claim that “May 18 was a riot” was made at a National Assembly public forum titled “Reexamining the May 18 Democratization Movement,” hosted on Aug. 13 by hard-line Rep. Lee Jin-sook, Rep. Park Soo-min, a policy adviser to floor leader Jeong Jeom-sik, demanded an apology on Aug. 15, saying, “Rep. Lee’s wrongdoing was extremely serious.” Some members of the party leadership have also argued that Lee should face disciplinary action.
Subtle tensions also persist between the party’s two top leaders. On Liberation Day, Aug. 15, Jang visited Olympic Park as part of his continuing effort to rally supporters outside the National Assembly. Around 20 lawmakers, including Cho Bae-sook, Park Dae-chul, Koo Ja-geun, Park Seong-min and Lee In-seon, joined him, but most of the parliamentary leadership, including floor leader Jeong, did not attend. A parliamentary official said, “Rep. Yoon Yong-geun, the floor leader’s chief of staff, attended. The others had schedules in their constituencies.” However, a figure close to Jeong said, “Of course there are concerns about whether focusing only on the hard-line ‘asphalt right’ will help broaden the party’s appeal to moderate voters.” The rift between the two leaders was also seen as having surfaced when Secretary-General Jeong Hee-yong, who is close to Jang, publicly protested to floor leader Jeong after Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who has clashed with Jang, attended the party’s floor strategy meeting on Aug. 14.
Against this backdrop, Jang’s planned replacement of local party organization chairs is expected to become another flashpoint for internal conflict. The leadership is scheduled to discuss the reselection of local party chairs nationwide at a Supreme Council meeting on Aug. 20. Instead of routinely extending their terms, the party is seriously considering reselecting all local constituency organization chairs through procedures that could include votes by party members.
Jang’s camp argues that “reappointing all local party chairs is the biggest reform” the party can undertake, but some remain skeptical. “Will things really go the way Jang wants?” one leadership figure said. A lawmaker from the Yeongnam region took a cautious stance, saying, “I’ll wait and see what conclusion they reach,” while a lawmaker from the Seoul metropolitan area reacted more sharply: “Isn’t Jang effectively trying to start a war?”