With 'Jang-Oh-Han' drifting apart, is a conservative alliance now out of reach?

[Financial News] The fierce battle among People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon and independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon is intensifying. Oh's acquittal at his second trial over allegations that he paid polling costs for Myung Tae-gyun on someone else's behalf raised hopes that a broad conservative alliance might take shape. But amid tensions with Jang over Oh's remarks about switching to an emergency committee system, and allegations of “fabricated disciplinary action” raised by Ethics Committee member Hwang Gyeong-seong, the alliance appears to have effectively fallen apart.
Attention among opposition figures now appears to be shifting to the leadership contest to steer the 2028 general election. Internal divisions over the People Power Party's direction are expected to intensify ahead of the second anniversary of the Dec. 3 emergency martial law declaration.
According to opposition figures on the 12th, after tensions among the three conservative potential leaders known as “Jang-Oh-Han” escalated on the 11th, the aftershocks continue to reverberate within the People Power Party. Rather than a three-way contest, it appeared that Mayor Oh and lawmaker Han were directing their attacks at Jang.
Jang dismissed calls for Han to rejoin the party, which have been raised particularly by Mayor Oh, the pro-Han faction and some senior lawmakers. Appearing that day on JoongAng Ilbo's YouTube show “Uncomfortable Yeouido,” Jang said, “As long as I am party leader, I am not considering Han's return to the party—or anything else—at all.” Responding to the controversy over Han's party members' bulletin board, he said, “Are we supposed to accept politics of immorality, opinion manipulation and division?” He also expressed displeasure at Oh's remarks about a shift to an emergency committee system, calling them “inappropriate.”
Regarding the allegation raised by Central Ethics Committee member Hwang Gyeong-seong that Han's expulsion had been manipulated, Jang said, “He should simply state openly what was manipulated.” In other words, Hwang should attend a meeting of the party's Supreme Council and present the evidence. Hwang had earlier claimed that Jang manipulated a series of disciplinary actions against Han, lawmaker Jin Jong-oh and others, and apologized to them.
After Oh emerged unscathed from his second trial, prospects for a broad conservative alliance began to brighten. But with a “Romance of the Three Kingdoms”-style struggle unfolding among the three, the alliance effectively fell apart. On the 11th, Oh clashed with Jang by calling for a shift to an emergency committee system and Han's conditional return to the party. Jang immediately retorted, “It seems the mayor is taking a great deal of interest in party affairs. Then perhaps I should become Seoul mayor, and Mayor Oh should become party leader, and we could switch places.”
The controversy over fabricated disciplinary action and Oh's remarks appear to be bolstering calls for Han to rejoin the party, but there is also considerable caution. Some lawmakers in the party's centrist camp say Han needs to make an effort to unite the party. They also argue that the so-called “party bulletin board controversy” needs to be definitively resolved, and that he needs to clarify his ties from the Yoon Suk Yeol administration. Oh, too, backed Han's return to the party but said, “Han himself also has things he needs to address first.”
There has also been considerable opposition. In a social media post on the 12th, lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo called it “a desperate attempt to drag the entire conservative right into the river of returning to the party and drown together,” adding, “I'd rather they start a new party.” The camp of Reform Party lawmaker Lee Jun-seok, seen as likely to form one pillar of a conservative alliance, is also skeptical about an alliance with Han. The Reform Party is open to an alliance with Oh, but has signaled that it does not want to close the distance with Han.
The upcoming second anniversary of the emergency martial law declaration on Dec. 3 could also become a catalyst for intraparty conflict. Attention is focused on the nature of the message the People Power Party will issue for the second anniversary of the Dec. 3 martial law declaration. The party's parliamentary leadership is reportedly considering issuing an apology for the martial law declaration, while Mayor Oh and Han have strongly argued that an apology is necessary. It remains uncertain, however, whether Jang, the party's public face, will apologize. If he does, conflict over his political line is likely to be unavoidable.

[email protected] Lee Hae-ram Reporter