South Korea's largest opposition party's approval rating falls to the 10% range for the first time since its founding: defeat in presidential election, urgent need to rebuild party

The People Power Party, the largest conservative opposition party, lost power in last month's South Korean presidential election when its official candidate was defeated, but its approval rating has fallen to the 10% range for the first time since its founding.
Since the election defeat, internal conflicts over party reform have continued day after day, with some within the party saying that the very survival of the party is in jeopardy."
The presidential election, which took place on the 3rd of last month, was led by Yoon Seok-gi, who declared "emergency martial law" in December of last year.
The election was held following the impeachment of former President Yoon Seok-yeol. Lee Jae-myung of the progressive Democratic Party of Korea, Kim Moon-soo of the People Power Party, and Lee Hyun-soo of the conservative Reform New Party were the main candidates.
・Jun-seok (Lee Jun-seok) and others were running for office. The biggest issue was how to evaluate the Yoon administration, which declared "emergency martial law." As a result of the vote count, Lee Jae-myung received 17,287,513 votes (vote rate of 49.42%).
Kim received 14,395,639 votes, while Lee Jun-seok received 2,917,523 votes, but they were not enough to win the election.
Broadcasting station KBS reported the party's predicament, saying, "With the party set to hand power to the opposition in just three years, it is being evaluated as being in a critical situation due to a lack of leadership and division within the party."
With Lee's inauguration as president, the Democratic Party of Korea returned to the ruling party for the first time in three years. Meanwhile, the People Power Party has been affected by the "emergency martial law" declaration by former President Yoon.
The party struggled, losing support from moderate voters and some conservative voters. At the election committee's dissolution ceremony, Kim bowed his head and said, "I apologize to the people and my comrades in the party."
The Election Strategy Committee released a statement, accepting defeat and stating, "We will abandon vested interests and a complacent attitude and work on reforms with a sense of urgency. We will regain the trust that has been lost and become a competent and responsible political party."
The People Power Party, which has fallen into the opposition, is now under pressure to completely reform itself, including the resignation of those who had failed to govern under the previous Yoon administration and a change of generation.
On the 1st of this month, Song Eon-seok was appointed as the head of the party's provisional executive committee and chairman of the emergency response committee. Song is a 62-year-old former member from Kimcheon City, North Gyeongsang Province in the southeast.
He served as the director of the budget office and second vice minister of the Ministry of Strategy and Finance in the Park Geun-hye administration. According to South Korean media, factional positions are relatively rare, but in the previous Yoon administration, he was close to Yoon.
At his inauguration press conference on the 2nd, Song said of former President Yoon's declaration of "emergency martial law," "I feel a deep sense of responsibility and once again offer my sincere apologies. I will never repeat such a mistake.
"I will re-depart with the determination to ensure that this does not happen," he said. He then stated his determination to "be reborn as a worthy opposition party and play a critical and check role."
The organization will be run temporarily until a new party executive is decided. The People's Power Party, which is rushing to rebuild itself, was presented with some shocking figures on the 10th of this month.
A poll conducted by Public, KEI Stat Research, and Korea Research on the 7th to 9th of this month among 1,000 adult men and women nationwide showed that the approval rating of the People's Power Party was
The party's approval rating was 19%, the first time it has been in the 10% range since it was founded in 2020 after changing its name from the predecessor "Liberty Korea Party." The Dong-A Ilbo newspaper reported on the results, "After the presidential election loss, people within the party
"The confusion surrounding the reform of the government's administration is being analyzed as the main reason for the drop in support," the paper said. According to the paper, a member of the party who was elected from the capital region said, "The word 'reform' is a bit of a problem.
"The reality of our party is that our words have become the target of ridicule, and this reflects the disappointment of the people," he said.
"This is the result of turning a deaf ear to the people's stern warnings to innovate and change, making no effort to change, and being solely preoccupied with protecting vested interests," he said, criticizing the government for "only liquidation and innovation being the 'people's
"I will once again revitalize the 'power' of the party," he said. Prior to this, Ahn announced on the 7th that he would run for party chairmanship in the election scheduled for next month.