The Fatherland Reform Party emerged as the third largest political party in South Korea's general election in April, but does it no longer have the momentum it did back then?

The Korean government's "Fatherland Reform Party," led by former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk, formerly nicknamed "Onion Man," is struggling with declining approval ratings.
However, in the general election in April this year, the party made a big leap forward and emerged as the third largest party. However, with the national party members' convention to decide the party leader coming up next month, there is no rival for Mr. Cho, and it is highly likely that Mr. Cho will be reappointed.
The media outlet Newsis reported that "there are voices saying that it is difficult to expect the so-called 'convention effect', in which approval ratings will rise sharply as a result of the all-party conference."
The party was founded by Cho in March of this year. The Korean pronunciation of the word "motherland" in the party's name is "Cho Kuk," which is the same as Cho's name.
At first, Cho expressed his intention to use his own name, Cho Kuk New Party. However, the Central Election Commission did not approve this, so he changed "Cho Kuk" to "Komguk" and changed it to "Progressive."
Cho set a goal of winning 10 seats in the general election in April this year and campaigned for the election.
The general election was positioned as a mid-term evaluation of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration, and the single-seat constituency (254 seats)
The election was contested through proportional representation (46 seats). The results showed that the largest opposition party, the Democratic Party of Korea, won 175 seats, including its proportional representation parties, while the ruling party that supports the Yoon administration, the People Power Party and its affiliated parties, won 1
The Fatherland Reform Party fought in the proportional representation district (46 seats) and won 12 seats with 24.25% of the vote. It exceeded its target number of seats and came in third behind the Democratic Party of Korea and the People Power Party.
Cho commented on the result at the time, "The people have made it clear that they want to judge the current administration. It's a victory for the people." He said he would accept the result humbly and that he would like to express his gratitude to President Yoon for all the support he has received so far.
He called on the public to apologize for his misguided policies and corruption. Cho was once mocked as the "onion man" because suspicions continued to mount despite his investigations. Cho has been known for his prosecution reforms and for the protection of vested interests.
In September 2019, he was appointed Minister of Justice by then-President Moon Jae-in, who was expected to break down vested interests. However, suspicions emerged that he had fraudulently admitted his daughter and son to prestigious universities.
He was forced to resign after just one month. Various suspicions continued to be raised against Cho. The prosecution indicted Cho, but the prosecutor-general was in charge of the investigation team at the time.
The man who led the investigation was current President Yoon Seok-yeol. Yoon was known for his thorough investigations into bribery cases involving former President Park Geun-hye and former President Lee Myung-bak.
He was praised by the president and was appointed prosecutor general in 2019. However, he gradually came into conflict with the Moon administration as he pursued Cho's allegations, and Yoon was appointed prosecutor general in March 2021.
He resigned as head of the government. However, his open confrontation with the government won him public support, and calls for him to enter politics grew. Yoon ran for president and was elected. In May 2022, he will become the 20th president.
Meanwhile, Cho was put on trial for forgery and use of public documents and obstruction of business for allegedly fraudulently getting his daughter and son admitted to prestigious universities, as mentioned above, and was sentenced to two years in prison in February last year.
He was given a prison sentence and is currently appealing the ruling. If the prison sentence is upheld by the Supreme Court, he will be imprisoned. Despite this "judicial risk," Cho is the leader of a "third party."
Last month, Cho landed on Takeshima (Dokdo in Korean) in Shimane Prefecture, an island over which South Korea claims sovereignty. In a statement read out after his landing, Cho said, "We are not denying the liberation of the Republic of Korea.
He also criticized the Yoon administration as "the worst pro-Japanese government in history, a traitorous government."
In a survey of party approval ratings conducted by the polling company Realmeter on the 20th and 21st of this month, the party's approval rating was at its lowest since the general election at 10.7% (third week of this month), down 2.5% from the previous week.
The party's approval rating has dropped by 10 points. The party will hold a national party member convention next month to elect its new leader. The party's approval rating has been declining, and many people have been expecting the party conference to be a turning point that will lead to a significant increase in approval ratings.
One would hope for the "convention effect" that has often been pointed out, but there is no rival for Mr. Cho within the party, and the South Korean media outlet Newsis said, "The atmosphere that 'the party leader will be Mr. Cho anyway' has led to a lot of confusion at the convention.
"Party officials are concerned that the election will end poorly," the report said. The Democratic Party of Korea and the People Power Party are also planning to hold party leadership elections from next month onwards, and both parties are expected to enter into election campaigns.
If the Democratic Party of Korea and the People Power Party gain momentum due to the "convention effect," the gap between the Fatherland Reform Party and these parties will widen even further.
It's a possibility. It's a critical moment for the new party, the Fatherland Reform Party.