With less than 50 days remaining before the early presidential election on June 3, calls are growing among contenders in the People Power Party to distance themselves from disgraced former President Yoon Suk Yeol.
Yoon — once the leader of the conservative bloc — has become a political liability, as criticism mounts over his impeachment following what the Constitutional Court ruled was an illegitimate declaration of martial law on Dec. 3 last year.
This shift has prompted even Yoon's longtime allies to turn their backs on him, signaling a broader realignment within the conservative bloc as the People Power Party seeks to restore its credibility and win back voter trust in a snap presidential election in which polling shows the party is currently trailing its rival, the Democratic Party of Korea.
On Friday morning, Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo of the People Power Party became the first to openly urge Yoon to voluntarily leave the party. “Yoon’s departure from the party would mark a starting point for the People Power Party to rebuild itself after sharing political responsibility for his presidency,” Ahn stated on Facebook.
Ahn argued that in the past, even sitting presidents had left their parties to avoid becoming a burden, and said that for a former president who has been impeached, stepping down would be a necessary gesture of accountability and a symbolic first step toward restoring the party’s credibility and pushing forward with internal reform.
“If things continue like this, we will lose the election. A party that defends an impeached former president cannot earn the people’s trust,” Ahn added.
While not directly calling for Yoon’s departure from the party like Ahn, other contenders — particularly those who supported Yoon’s impeachment — have also stressed the need for the party to distance itself from him as the election nears.
At the PPP’s first televised primary debate on Thursday afternoon, Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok said, “We must let Yoon go and defeat Lee Jae-myung in order to overcome the national crisis.” Yang Hyang-ja, a former PPP lawmaker, echoed the sentiment, saying Yoon “must leave (the stage) while they're still applauding.”
When asked about a possible meeting with Yoon, former PPP leader Han Dong-hoon ruled it out, saying, “I’ve entered this race determined to lead the country. I don’t think I should allow that decision to be misunderstood.”
Even figures who had opposed Yoon’s impeachment have signaled a desire to move away from him.
Rep. Na Kyung-won said, “We must not rely on ‘Yoon’s influence’ as a campaign strategy in this presidential race.” North Gyeongsang Province Governor Lee Cheol-woo added that Yoon should not support any particular candidate in the race.
Former Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo also remarked, “The country is in chaos — and that is the responsibility of the Yoon Suk Yeol administration.”
However, when asked about Ahn’s earlier Facebook post during a policy vision presentation event on Friday, Hong expressed discomfort with calls for Yoon to leave the party.
“It’s a difficult thing to hear — calling for the former president to quit. That’s not how one should treat a person, even aside from politics,” Hong said. He likened such remarks to “mutilating a corpse.”
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