As lawmakers' demands for the resignation of People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok erupt following the party's defeat in the local elections, hardline party members have launched an organized campaign to "protect Jang Dong-hyeok." They are continuing all-out pressure, bombarding lawmakers who demanded Jang's resignation with text messages and staging group protest visits to the offices of figures close to independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon.
According to political circles Friday, hardline party members aligned with Jang are operating a separate website called "Power of Party Members." The site, which has surpassed 65,000 cumulative visitors, posts contact information allowing members to send text messages directly to lawmakers. They posted a series of messages naming lawmakers who criticized Jang, saying, "Let's thoroughly punish them with text bombs." They also encouraged the submission of disciplinary requests against lawmakers who called for party reform.
Figures close to Han Dong-hoon have also become key targets. According to the members, dozens of protest text messages containing profanity, such as "cowardly XX lining up behind a traitor," arrive every day. On "Power of Party Members," a post also appeared certifying that a member had sent a senior lawmaker who co-sponsored one of Han's bills a text saying, "There are widespread rumors that you've become a lackey." Hardline supporters also repeatedly gather to protest at the office of one lawmaker in the Busan region.
Among lawmakers, some lament, "Even being photographed together brings a flood of protest calls from my district, so I have no choice but to draw a line with Representative Han."
Despite the collective action by hardline party members, lawmakers' calls for Jang to take responsibility show little sign of subsiding. Alternative and Future issued a statement that day, once again urging Jang to step down. The group criticized Jang, saying, "Leader Jang has repeatedly engaged in words and actions that defy public common sense, too many to enumerate, reducing the party to a 'playground for hardline conservative forces.'" They added, "Stop mistaking the People Power Party for Leader Jang's personal 'private faction'," and said, "Face the will of party members and the public, and take responsibility as promised so the party can move forward anew."
People Power Party Representative Kim Yong-tae also said, "Before the regular session of the National Assembly begins, we should transition to a party unity emergency committee and then elect a leadership that can win the general election."
