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People Power Party (South Korea)

The People Power Party (Korean: 국민의힘; lit. Power of Nationals; PPP), formerly known as the United Future Party (미래통합당; UFP), is a conservative and right-wing political party in South Korea. It controls the South Korean presidency and is the second largest party in the National Assembly. The PPP, along with its historic rival, the Democratic Party, make up the two largest political parties in South Korea.

The UFP was formed on 17 February 2020 through the merger of the Liberty Korea Party, New Conservative Party, and Onward for Future 4.0, as well as several minor parties and political organisations. The party changed its name to the PPP on 31 August 2020.

History

Background

Due to the political scandal in 2016, President Park Geun-hye was impeached, and several MPs quit the then-ruling Saenuri Party to form the Bareun Party. The Saenuri Party changed its name to the Liberty Korea Party (LKP), but following the impeachment of Park on 10 March 2017, it de jure lost its ruling party position. After the Democratic presidential candidate Moon Jae-in was elected on 9 May, the LKP officially became the main opposition.

Although several Bareun MPs returned to the LKP, the LKP did not recover its support, losing ground in the 2018 local elections. Its president, Hong Joon-pyo, immediately resigned to take responsibility for the serious defeat. The Bareun Party, which had merged with the smaller centrist People's Party to form the Bareunmirae Party, also faced a defeat in the local elections.

The two conservative parties held snap leadership elections. On 2 September 2018, the Bareunmirae Party elected Sohn Hak-kyu as its new president. On 27 February 2019, the Liberty Korea Party elected former Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn as its new leader. Lee Un-ju, a Bareunmirae MP, quit her party and was widely expected to join the LKP but formed a new party named Onward for Future 4.0. With the exit of the Bareunmirae Party's President Sohn, other former Bareun MPs faced conflicts and founded the New Conservative Party. As a "conservative union", the Liberty Korea Party, Onward for Future 4.0, and the New Conservative Party agreed to merge and establish a new party.

The new party's name was initially set as the Grand Unified New Party (대통합신당), but soon changed to United Future Party (미래통합당). Park Heong-joon, who led the merger and re-foundation, explained that the name shows support for youths and political solidarity.

Founding congress

Following the merger and re-foundation of the 3 conservative parties into the United Future Party (UFP) on 17 February 2020, it elected the Liberty Korea Party's President Hwang Kyo-ahn as the new president. Though much of the UFP's leadership resembles that of the LKP, Vice-presidents Won Hee-ryong and Kim Young-hwan are not from the LKP.

The President of the Republic of Korea Moon Jae-in and the Democratic Party Leader Lee Hae-chan congratulated the new party's founding, but the move was not welcomed by other members. Some sources reported that the party is planning to file a lawsuit against Moon.

Yoo Seong-min, the former Bareunmirae president, did not attend the founding congress. Yoo Young-ha, who is in support of Park Geun-hye, exited the LKP before the formation of the new party.

2020–2021

The party contested as an alliance with its sister satellite party, the Future Korea Party (FKP), in the 2020 elections. However, some UFP candidates provoked controversies for defamatory remarks, such as Cha Myong-jin and Kim Dae-ho.

The party was defeated in the election with some of the worst results historically for a conservative party in South Korea. The UFP won 103 out of 300 seats in the National Assembly, slightly over one-third of the seats. The party lost several key figures, including Oh Se-hoon, Na Kyung-won, Shim Jae-chul, and Kim Jin-tae. Party Leader Hwang Kyo-ahn, who contested for Jongno, was defeated by former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon. Hwang announced that he would stand down as the party president.

Following Hwang's resignation, it was reported that the party would temporarily establish the Emergency Planning Committee, led by Kim Chong-in. Several members, such as Kim Young-woo, disagreed with the establishment of the committee. Hong Jun-pyo, who showed an intention to return to the UFP, also opposed the proposal and revealed Kim's past corruption allegations.

On 8 May, Joo Ho-young was elected the UFP's Floor Leader, automatically becoming the party's interim Leader. On 22 May, the party held an election to nominate Kim Chong-in as the interim President until the next by-elections on 7 April 2021, which he accepted. The same day, the FKP announced its merger by 29 May. On 28 May, both the UFP and FKP officially declared their merger as the unified UFP.

On 13 August, Realmeter had revealed an opinion poll showing that the party has gained more supporters than the ruling Democratic Party (UFP: 36.5%–DP: 33.4%). This was the first time that a conservative party gained more support than a liberal party since the political scandal of former President Park Geun-hye in October 2016.

On 31 August, the party decided to change its name to the People Power (Korean: 국민의힘; the "Party" was added later). The party requested that the name be changed to the National Election Commission. It has been argued that the new proposed name was similar to the minor centrist People Party of Ahn Cheol-soo. There were speculations that the party was willing to form an electoral alliance with the minor opposition party in the 2021 by-elections. Jung Chung-rae, an MP of the Democratic Party, criticised the name for being too similar to a civic organisation established in 2003, where he used to serve as its first co-president.

On 2 September, the party officially changed its name to the People Power Party, its current name. The PPP declared that it would be a centrist and pragmatic party. On 14 September, the party revealed its logo and its 3 colors—red, yellow, and blue, based on its temporary decisions. These colors were officially confirmed on 23 September, although yellow was replaced with white.

On 17 September, Kweon Seong-dong, the MP for Gangneung, officially returned to the PPP, leading the party to have 104 seats. He left the party before the 2020 elections, where he ran as an independent candidate. The PPP's total seats were reverted to 103 after Park Duk-hyum, the MP for Boeun-Okcheon-Yeongdong-Goesan, quit the party on 23 September following corruption allegations. He denied all allegations related to him and his family.

On 22 December, Jeon Bong-min, the MP for Suyeong, quit the party following corruption allegations against himself and his father.

On 7 January 2021, Kim Byong-wook, the MP for Pohang South-Ulleung, withdrew from the PPP due to a controversy related to sexual harassment. The same day, Kim Tae-ho, the former Governor of South Gyeongsang and the incumbent MP for Sancheong-Hamyang-Geochang-Hapcheon, officially rejoined the party.

2021 by-elections

Before the 2021 by-elections, the party elected the former Mayor of Seoul Oh Se-hoon as its Seoul mayoral candidate, as well as the former MP for Suyeong, Park Heong-joon as its Busan mayoral candidate on 4 March 2021.

In the by-elections on 7 April, the party achieved an outright victory despite the government's low popularity, where both Oh and Park were elected by a large margin. Oh Se-hoon, who formerly stepped down as the Mayor of Seoul in 2011, defeated the Democratic candidate Park Young-sun and successfully came back to the position. Park Hyung-joon also defeated the Democratic candidate Kim Young-choon and was elected the Mayor of Busan, despite his several controversies, such as Haeundae LCT The Sharp. The same day, the MP for Gimcheon Song Eon-seog, faced public backlashes after it was reported that he was swearing and assaulting office workers. He quit the party on 14 April.

In opposition (2021–2022)

On 8 April 2021, Joo Ho-young returned as the interim President of the party. He announced his intention to resign as the parliamentary leader on 16 April, adding that he would not serve until his term finishes on 29 May, but instead, until a new person is elected. The same day, the party declared that they will continue the processes to merge the minor People Party.

On 30 April, the former Mayor of Ulsan Kim Gi-hyeon was elected the new parliamentary leader of the party, defeating Kim Tae-heum, Kweon Seong-dong, and Yu Eui-dong. He served as the acting party President until the leadership election that was held on 11 June.

On 21 May, Kim Byong-wook, who quit the party in January following a sexual harassment controversy, officially returned to the PPP.

On 11 June, Lee Jun-seok was elected the new President of the party, defeating Na Kyung-won and others.

On 24 June, the party approved an independent MP Hong Joon-pyo's bid to rejoin.

On 15 July, Choi Jae-hyung, one of the potential candidate for the 2022 presidential election, officially joined the party.

On 30 July, the former Prosecutor General Yoon Suk Yeol, who was also the most favourable candidate for the 2020 presidential election, officially joined the party.

On 5 August, Yoon Sang-hyun, the MP for Incheon East-Michuhol 2nd, rejoined the party, and therefore all 4 PPP-friendly independent MPs successfully returned.

2022 presidential election and by-elections

On 5 November 2021, Yoon Suk Yeol won the PPP presidential primary, defeating Hong Joon-pyo.

In the presidential election on 9 March, Yoon was elected President of South Korea, defeating Lee Jae-myung by a margin of 0.73%. The party also had significant wins at the March 2022 by-elections that was held along with the presidential election, where the party regained 4 out of 5 National Assembly constituencies. Although the party did not contest for Daegu Central-South, Lim Byung-hun, a pro-PPP independent candidate, was elected. This increased the total number of the PPP MPs, from 106 to 110.

On 8 April, Kweon Seong-dong was elected parliamentary leader of the People Power Party, defeating Cho Hae-jin.

On 18 April 2022, the minor People Party led by Ahn Cheol-soo merged into the PPP.

Return to the government (since 2022)

Following Yoon's inauguration as the President on 9 May, the PPP faced the local elections on 1 June, which they achieved an outright victory.

Later, the party leader Lee Jun-seok, who took a critical stance toward the president, was removed from his position. Through the text leak incident that occurred later, it was possible to understand the president's uncomfortable intentions toward the former party leader. The rules of the party convention were limited to 100% of the party member vote. Yoo Seong-min, a moderate candidate, criticised the change as a way to discredit himself, who is ranked first in public opinion polls. After the Hanbyeon rule change, a number of far-right people who insisted on the conspiracy theory of fraudulent elections ran for the PPP primary.

In the party leadership race, the president was criticised for attempting to influence the primary. The rule account for 100% party vote to prevent the election of a candidate critical of the president was also made after the president addressed party lawmakers.

Na Kyung-won, who wanted to run for the primary, declared that he would not run. It was interpreted that this was due to pressure from the president. Candidate Yoo Seong-min, who was judged to have no chance of winning due to the rule change, also gave up running for the primary. Criticisms were raised in various media outlets that the president intervened excessively in the primary by not maintaining neutrality and excessively pushing certain candidates.

After popular candidate Na Kyung-won resigned from her candidacy in favour of Kim Gi-hyeon, the two-way structure of Ahn Cheol-soo and Kim Gi-hyeon hardened. Even in this situation, the presidential office threw a friendly message to Kim Gi-hyeon and using expressions such as 'enemy' towards Ahn Cheol-soo, showing an attitude that seemed to show support of Kim Gi-hyeon, causing controversy.

In addition, members of the "Pro-Yoon" faction who supported Kim Gi-hyeon, cricized that Ahn Cheol-soo took a friendly stance toward progressive intellectuals in the past, saying that he was "a person who respects communists" and "pro-North Korea leftists."

The final four candidates for the primary party presidency elections were Cheon Ah-ram, Hwang Kyo-ahn, Kim Gi-hyeon, and Ahn Cheol-soo.

Regarding the characteristics of the candidates, Ah-ram Cheon is pro-Lee Jun-seok and is critical of the president, Hwang Kyo-ahn has far-right ideologies, supports the conspiracy theory of a fraudulent 2020 South Korean legislative election, denies the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye, and Ahn Cheol-soo takes a neutral stance toward the president and is evaluated as broadly moderately expandable thanks to his past history from a liberal party. Kim Gi-hyeon, a pro-Yoon legislator, has the advantage of being able to maintain a good relationship with the presidential office, but there is also criticism that it can make the separation between the party and the presidential office insufficient.

On 8 March 2023, Kim Gi-hyeon was elected President of the party. In the primary for the supreme council, all five out of five Pro-Yoon candidates were elected. Non-Yoon candidates inside the party criticised that the primary was conducted very unfairly.

On 7 April, Yoon Jae-ok, the MP for Dalseo B, was elected parliamentary leader of the party, defeating Kim Hack-yong.

The party brought in the Ihn Yo-han Innovation Committee after losing in the by-election for Gangseo-gu mayor. Party leader Kim Gi-hyeon said he would hand over full authority to the innovation committee chairman.

Main factions

Currently, the party is mainly divided between pro-Yoon and non-Yoon factions. However, there are cases where factions are divided into pro Yoon, non-Yoon, and anti-Yoon. The pro-Yoon is a faction is friendly to the President. They follow the line of the President Yoon. The non-Yoon tries to have a neutral, good relationship with Yoon. The anti-Yoon faction opposes the president and often clashes with him.

Pro-Yoon

"Chin-Yoon" (Korean: 친윤; lit. 'pro-Yoon') is the faction of the PPP that supports President Yoon Suk Yeol.

At present, the Pro-Yoon faction has the most power in the party and the supreme council, and are mainly supported by older party members. Chin-Yoon is nationally conservative, and is sometimes referred to as right-wing to far-right, although Yoon himself Representatively, it was argued that former lawmaker Na Kyung-won was criticised for disobeying the president's advise to not run for the party leader election in 2023.

Non-Yoon

"Bi-Yoon" (Korean: 비윤; lit. 'non-Yoon') refers to those neutral or critical of Yoon.

People who are neutral to President Yoon are classified as Bi-Yoon and more critical members as "ban-Yoon" (Korean: 반윤; lit. anti-Yoon). People from the former New Conservative Party are leading the way. They are ideologically inconsistent except against Yoon Suk Yeol, and there are economic liberal, liberal conservative and paternalistic conservatives like the one-nation conservatism of British Conservative Party.

Bi-Yoon is also economically liberal but moderates like Yoo Seong-min and Choung Byoung-gug are more favourable to welfare than some of PPP politicians and insist the reform of social welfare system like Benjamin Disraeli and David Cameron's example to meet the standard of welfare state and economic liberalism.

Some of them show more liberal views than conservative factions within DPK on cultural issues such as LGBT. However, there remains an unfriendly view of feminism due to the association of the word to the electorate.

Ideology and political positions

The People Power Party is a big tent conservative political party. There are politicians with various ideologies in the PPP, but they are usually referred to as figures rather than ideologies. The People's Power Party is mainly labelled a right-wing, but has also been labelled far-right, particularly during its establishment. During the 2022 South Korea presidential election, the party was described as center-right by international outlets. It is broadly considered to be conservative and national-conservative, though political spectrums inside it range from moderate conservatism to anti-communists, compared to neo-McCarthyism.

Economic policies

In the past, conservative political parties in South Korea supported economic interventionism due to the historical influence of Park Chung Hee. However, currently, the PPP is more economically liberal. The PPP generally supports fiscal conservatism.

Social policies

The PPP is socially conservative and advocates traditional family values, and national patriotism. Some media outlets criticised a part of the PPP's young politicians' negative attitude toward feminism. Some young right-wing politicians in the PPP, also support Idaenam.

PPP has voiced opposition to the Democratic Party of Korea's policy of officially attempting to regulate dog meat consumption. Yang Joon-woo, a spokesman for PPP, said in 2021 that the "state does not have the right to regulate individual tastes or eating habits". However, in 2023, PPP announced their plans to introduce a bill that would ban dog meat consumption by 2027 if the bill is enacted by the end of 2023.

The PPP advocates for the abolishment of the "Korean age" and the standardisation of age counting in South Korea. Lee Yong-ho, the chief of Yoon's transition committee, said the different age counting methods in the country creates "persistent confusion" and "unnecessary social and economic costs".

As South Korea's birthrate dropped lower, key politicians in the PPP have started moving away from the conservative immigration policies of the past and began to support a more liberal approach. The Yoon administration supported the creation of an "immigration office" (이민청), which was discussed and failed since the past liberal Kim Dae-jung government. On the other hand, the party's position on foreign voting rights is more restrictive, arguing that "foreigners from countries that do not grant voting rights to South Koreans living abroad should be deprived of all voting rights."

Foreign policy

PPP has generally taken a friendly stance towards the United States. PPP's conservative wing is generally more pro-American. President Yoon has taken a overwhelmingly pro-US policy compared to previous presidents by moving high-tech supply chains and production to the United States, as well as military agreements with the Biden administration.

PPP's position on China is ambiguous, but sometimes critical. However, conservatives in South Korea place more importance on economic pragmatism than liberals, so they try to avoid friction with China on Cross-Strait relations, Korean culture and Korean history. However, apart from PPP's foreign policy, there are controversies about whether PPP politically exploits anti-Chinese sentiment for political gains, which leads to hate speech and violence against Chinese people. PPP has stated that it views China and North Korea separately; after Yoon wrote an Instagram caption signalling "myeolkong", meaning "destroy communists".

In regards to Japan, the PPP has a more conciliatory approach compared to the more hawkish DPK. PPP does not seek direct compensation or apology from the Japanese government and companies for victims of forced labor, a war crime committed by the Empire of Japan and Japanese companies during World War II, but instead expresses its stance to receive voluntary donations from South Korean companies through a foundation.

The PPP is fiercely anti-communist and advocates a hawkish policy against North Korea. This has let them to usually perform well electorally in constituencies that border the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Many PPP politicians support South Korea having nuclear weapons on its own, in order to counter the threat of North Korea's nuclear weapons.