Reformists collect nearly 10,000 signatures demanding Jang Dong-hyeok step down
The leader of South Korea's right-wing People Power Party, Rep. Jang Dong-hyeok, is facing mounting calls for resignation in reckoning for the party's defeats in June's local elections.
Reformists accused him of suppressing opponents to cling to his leadership post after Jang refused to resign and hinted at disciplinary action against other members for damaging the party.
In the latest tally, more than 10,000 people had signed a petition started by party reformists on June 22 calling for Jang's resignation, including both dues-paying party members and nonmembers.
According to an anonymous source with knowledge of the matter, the petition will be delivered to Jang if the party initiates disciplinary action against any lawmaker viewed as being reformist.
"It is not a matter of how many signatures we secured," the source said Tuesday.
"Antidemocratic politics full of intimidation is at play, and his politics of using disciplinary actions to his own advantage is highly associated with it."
Jang supporters claim the chair has contributed to the rebound of the party's popularity after the June 3 local elections, despite defeats in most districts.
Jang said Monday via Facebook that he would "not resign no matter what conclusion (our party's) lawmakers reached at a general assembly," in response to reformist People Power Party lawmaker Rep. Woo Jae-jun's demand for his resignation at a Supreme Council meeting.
Later Monday, a text message received by People Power Party Rep. Kang Myeong-gu revealed that disciplinary measures against some party lawmakers were under discussion.
The message, caught on camera, indicated that their acts of harming the party included support for Han Dong-hoon, the estranged former People Power Party chair. The party's reformist faction leans toward Han, who won a parliamentary by-election on June 3 against a People Power Party candidate in Busan.
On Tuesday, the People Power Party said the message did not indicate the official stance of the party.
However, a string of actions fueled reformist lawmakers' calls for Jang's resignation.
Rep. Park Jeong-hun, one of the People Power Party lawmakers targeted in the message, said in a radio interview Tuesday that conservative voters' tilt toward Han in the by-election in Busan suggested Jang "is the one who should take political responsibility."
"If Jang's faction in power makes any decisions that undermine democracy by unjustly using its power, it will only add more reasons for Jang to resign," Park said.
Another target, Rep. Jin Jong-oh of the People Power Party, said in a separate interview that his act of supporting Han "was not against the people's will, regardless of how the party's ethics committee frames my actions."
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