People Power Party (PPP) lawmaker Kim Yong-tae warned that Chairman Jang Dong-hyuk "has no intention of severing ties with the Yoon-again forces," emphasizing that "any political slogan is useless as long as we stay with Yoon-again, and the public will punish the PPP." He also predicted that if his party loses the upcoming local elections, it will have no chance in the 2028 general election.
Speaking on Channel A's radio program "Political Signal" on the 5th, Kim said, "Yesterday, members of 'Alternative and Future' (a group of first-term and younger PPP lawmakers) met with Chairman Jang, and the leadership appears to have concluded that they must ultimately embrace Yoon-again." He added, "At this point, other lawmakers agreed to focus on the local elections from their respective positions, as candidate screening begins today and each district party chairman must prepare for nominations and the local elections."
Kim criticized the leadership for misjudging that they can win over the public without "Jeol-Yoon" (severing ties with Yoon Suk-yeol). He said, "The so-called centrists are pragmatists, so the leadership seems to believe these voters will follow if the party delivers real estate policies or livelihood-related initiatives. After hearing this, I felt our leadership and our party are taking the public too lightly."
He continued, "The Democratic Party passed three judiciary control bills, and the public fully understands their harm. Yet from the public's perspective, they would rather punish the PPP than the Democratic Party." He added, "No matter how much we champion protecting liberal democratic constitutional order, the public will be outraged if our leadership embraces Yoon-again without acknowledging the martial law declaration as illegal."
Kim noted that while some lawmakers are pinning their hopes on the period after the June 3 local elections, in reality, losing this election would make conditions worse not only for the 2028 general election but for all future public elections.
"Most lawmakers probably think they can start reforms after the leadership changes following a local election defeat," Kim said. "But if we lose the local elections, I believe the Democratic Party will begin splitting into pro-Lee and anti-Lee factions while absorbing centrist conservatives and reasonable conservatives." He added, "By then, recovery will be extremely difficult, and our party will have shrunk into a Yoon-again party, facing a very serious situation."
Kim proposed "One Party, Two Systems" as a strategy for the local elections. He said, "We are under one party, but if we must compete in this system, I think each region should develop its own election strategy while the party does its part. The metropolitan area should unite with the metropolitan area, and Daegu-Gyeongbuk should unite with Daegu-Gyeongbuk to develop policies and agendas, build public opinion on issues like the TK Integration Act—that's the path to gaining at least some attention."
