The People Power Party (PPP) is seeing a rapid push to form independent campaign committees in key battleground regions ahead of local elections. As leadership risk has peaked following Chairman Jang Dong-hyuk's abrupt trip to the United States, regional candidates are distancing themselves from party headquarters in a "stand-alone" strategy.
Busan Mayor Park Heong-jun, the PPP's candidate for Busan mayor, declared on SBS Radio's "Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show" on Friday that he would form an independent campaign committee to win the election.
"The party has lost more points than it gained during the nomination process, resulting in a decline in overall party approval ratings," Park said. "We need to quickly wrap up the nominations and erase the image of disarray, division, and repetition of past mistakes. We need a campaign committee that can run a proper election."
He added, "The achievements of incumbent local government heads from our party have mostly been good, so regional campaign committees will play an important role in this election, and we should be judged on those achievements. But even if we work 'sse ppajige' — as they say in Busan dialect meaning extremely hard — a misstep by headquarters could ruin everything."
Park's camp, which expanded its reach by recruiting primary rival Rep. Joo Jin-woo as standing campaign committee chairman the previous day, plans to accelerate preparations for a strategy that clearly differentiates itself from party leadership. A lawmaker from the Busan region explained, "Normally campaign committees are formed around the mayoral candidate, but this time we will particularly strengthen our independence. With the current central party leadership, party approval ratings aren't rising and don't seem likely to change, so the intention is to build a lineup and concept optimized for Busan."
Independent campaign committees are also expected to be formed in Seoul and the TK region (Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province), which the PPP has identified as decisive areas for this election. Rep. Bae Hyun-jin, chair of the Seoul metropolitan party chapter who has been at odds with the Jang Dong-hyuk leadership, is preparing to form a differentiated "Seoul campaign committee" as soon as the Seoul mayoral candidate is confirmed and nominations for city council members and district heads are finalized.
"Even if Jesus himself ran in the metropolitan area, it wouldn't work," Bae previously said. "I will create a Seoul identity that is different from the current Jang Dong-hyuk leadership or the nomination management committee."
The TK region requires more time before Daegu candidates are decided. However, amid concerns that the party could lose the Daegu mayorship to the Democratic Party of Korea for the first time — which has put forward candidate Kim Bu-kyum — North Gyeongsang Province Governor candidate Lee Cheol-woo preemptively proposed forming a joint TK campaign committee. Preliminary Daegu mayoral candidate Choo Kyung-ho responded favorably, calling it absolutely necessary.
The number of regions taking independent action may increase further. Chairman Jang's US trip, criticized for occurring just before the election, is being assessed as having produced essentially no results, which could further erode leadership popularity.
Meeting with reporters in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday (local time), Chairman Jang responded to criticism about visiting the US ahead of the election by saying, "People may have different views on what is important regarding the party chairman's role."
During the seven-day, five-night trip, Chairman Jang met with officials from the US State Department, the White House National Security Council (NSC), members of both houses of Congress, and think tank representatives including the America First Policy Institute (AFPI) to discuss Korea-US cooperation measures. He was accompanied by Supreme Council member Kim Min-soo and Reps. Cho Jung-hoon, Kim Jang-gyeom, and Kim Dae-sik.
As criticism of the leadership grows, calls are also gaining momentum for the party not to nominate a candidate in Busan's Buk-gu Gap district, where former PPP leader Han Dong-hoon will run in the by-election. Lawmakers aligned with Han and those from the Busan region are increasingly vocal that the PPP should not field a candidate to prevent conservative vote splitting.
Following Reps. Jung Sung-guk and Kim Do-eup, even Rep. Kwak Gyu-taek — a floor leadership member and nomination management committee member — has called for Han's reinstatement to the party and advocated for no nomination, making the internal power dynamics increasingly complex.
Party leadership, however, continues to draw the line against the no-nomination argument. Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo, whose hometown is Busan, also criticized the idea on Friday, mentioning former Veterans Affairs Minister Park Min-sik who is running in the Buk-gu Gap primary.
"Is it the job of a political party to treat someone who is campaigning in the district at this very moment as if they were invisible?" Ahn said. "The proper order is to select and support our party's candidate."
