The conservative implosion offers a warning about leadership, legitimacy ahead of election
By any political measure, the People Power Party’s recent chaotic maneuverings resemble a house in flames trying to repaint its walls. At a moment when cohesion and clarity are desperately needed, the ruling conservatives have spiraled into public infighting, strategic incoherence and self-inflicted wounds — a political fiasco that may leave lasting scars ahead of the June 3 presidential election.
Impeached then President Yoon Suk Yeol was removed from office in April over his failed martial law order, triggering an early election.
The past week marked the climax of a deeply damaging episode that has exposed rifts within the party and strained its legitimacy. At the center of the storm was a bitter contest over who should lead the conservative ticket: Kim Moon-soo, a former labor minister who won the party’s primary on May 3, or former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, viewed by party elites as a safer, more moderate choice.
Despite Kim’s clear victory in the primary, party leadership sought to force a last-minute candidacy merger with Han, citing polls that showed Han performing better in head-to-head matchups against Democratic Party of Korea front-runner Lee Jae-myung. The party’s rank and file, however, were unmoved. In an emergency vote Saturday, they rejected the leadership’s push, cementing Kim’s nomination. On Sunday, Kim registered his candidacy, pledging to unite conservatives and steer the country out of crisis.
But the damage — political, procedural and reputational — had already been done. The spectacle laid bare not only ideological divides but also a worrying culture of improvisation, where democratic procedures appear optional and power plays take precedence over stability and principle.
Kim himself was not exempt from the drama. Though once a vocal proponent of conservative unity, he reversed course after winning the nomination. Han, meanwhile, resigned as acting president on May 1 and declared his candidacy the next day — only to find himself sidelined in a botched internal coup that further undermined public trust.
Now, the conservative bloc enters the official campaign period wounded, rudderless and behind in the polls. A Realmeter survey conducted May 7 to 9 shows Lee Jae-myung leading with 52.1 percent support, followed by Kim at 31.1 percent and Lee Jun-seok of the New Reform Party at 6.3 percent. Among politically moderate voters, the numbers are even more stark: Kim garners just 24.3 percent to Lee’s commanding 54.9.
The failed attempt to substitute Han through opaque backroom maneuvering, late-night meetings and veiled legal threats was condemned by Kim as a “midnight political coup.” Han Dong-hoon, the party’s former chair, echoed this framing, accusing the pro-Yoon Suk Yeol faction of treating the party as “private property” and warning that failure to demand accountability would doom any conservative revival.
Such dysfunction would be alarming in any democracy. But in South Korea, a nation facing complex economic and geopolitical challenges, the stakes are considerably higher. Growth remains sluggish, and the trade environment grows more precarious amid shifting US tariff policy. Meanwhile, North Korea continues its aggressive posturing, underscoring the need for steady, credible leadership in Seoul.
What the country now requires is not more spectacle, but sober, responsible governance. Yet the People Power Party remains trapped in its own self-created chaos, governed more by factional loyalty than national interest. The collapse of the unity effort behind Han Duck-soo may have closed one chapter, but it has opened another marked by distrust, fatigue and internal disarray.
As the campaign enters full swing on Monday, Kim faces not just the uphill task of narrowing the polling gap, but the more difficult work of restoring credibility — his own and that of the party he represents. More than ever, voters will be asking not just who can win, but who can govern.
koreadherald@heradcorp.com
