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Yoon conviction intensifies rift within Korea's conservative bloc as figures call for break with ex-president

Published: 19 Feb. 2026, 19:11 Updated: 19 Feb. 2026, 19:46

Conservative People Power Party (PPP) leader Jang Dong-hyeok is seen during a PPP supreme council meeting at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Feb. 12. [LIM HYUN-DONG]

Former President Yoon Suk Yeol's life sentence on insurrection charges has triggered an open rift inside the conservative People Power Party (PPP), with some lawmakers urging a decisive break from the disgraced former leader just months before local elections.

Immediately after Thursday's ruling, PPP members warned that Yoon could become "the party’s biggest liability” ahead of the June 3 local elections. A senior lawmaker from the Gyeongsang region said anxiety was spreading that the party would be forced to share political responsibility because it had failed to clearly distance itself from Yoon.

“The party had stressed that the judiciary had yet to deliver a verdict on the opposition camp’s ‘insurrection’ offensive,” said a second-term lawmaker who wished to stay anonymous. “Now it feels like we’ve lost even our last shield.”

“Because we failed to sever ties with former President Yoon, it will be difficult to avoid shared responsibility,” said a first-term lawmaker from the Seoul metropolitan area.

Calls to distance the party from Yoon poured out across the PPP, from first-term lawmakers to senior members.

“Once again, I apologize to the public.” Kim Yong-tae, a first-term lawmaker, wrote on Facebook. “I will break with the heartbreaking legacy left by martial law and move forward on the path of true people’s conservatism.”

“Even now, our party must offer the public a sincere apology and make a clean break with Yoon,” said Han Zee-a, a lawmaker close to former PPP leader Han Dong-hoon. “If not, we will be recorded in the court of history as a party that defended an insurrection.”

Conservative People Power Party lawmaker Kim Yong-tae [NEWS1]

Members of a reformist caucus held a news conference at the National Assembly and urged the PPP leadership, including party leader Jang Dong-hyeok, to cut ties immediately with the “Yoon Again” faction, which they said was “possessed by the ghost of the past.”

“As long as we remain with the Yoon Again faction, it is impossible to win elections,” said Yoon Han-hong, a three-term lawmaker.

“The party could only move forward if it issued messages of separation and reflection dozens, hundreds of times,” said Cho Kyoung-tae, a six-term lawmaker. “Enough that the public would not harbor even the slightest doubt.”

"Breaking with Yoon is not division, but a process of cutting out a festering wound so new flesh can grow,” Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon wrote on Facebook. “It is an unavoidable path for conservatives.”

Oh had publicly called for Jang’s resignation as party leader last month after Jang refused to shift away from a hard-line conservative course. Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok also wrote on Facebook shortly after the verdict, calling it “a tragedy in our political history that must never be repeated.”

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon speaks at a city welfare event at a venue in Mapo District, western Seoul, on Jan. 29. [YONHAP]

The minor conservative Reform Party also stressed that the PPP needs to distance itself from Yoon. “Today’s ruling means one thing for the conservative camp: empty-handedness,” Reform Party leader Lee Jun-seok said. “We must start again with our bare hands, with humility and simplicity.”

Lee Dong-hoon, the party’s chief spokesperson, said in a statement that the PPP also had a choice to make, adding that “a party that cannot sever ties with power from the past cannot move into the future.”

But backlash has also emerged, centered on the PPP leadership, arguing that demands to break with Yoon play into the liberal Democratic Party’s “insurrection party” framing, according to a PPP leadership figure.

“What matters is leaving the past behind, but if we keep using the word ‘severing ties,’ it becomes a return to the past,” said Supreme Council member Shin Dong-wook on KBS Radio. Supreme Council member Kim Jae-won also said on SBS Radio that Yoon had already left the party and that there was no need for any further wording.

Yoon left the PPP of his own accord in May 2025 ahead of the June 3 presidential election.

Reform Party leader Lee Jun-seok speaks during a supreme council meeting at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Dec. 29, 2025. [YONHAP]

Calls also surfaced to resume President Lee Jae Myung’s trials, which are currently suspended. Lee is involved in a remanded trial for violating the Public Official Election Act, an appeals trial for perjury solicitation, a first trial related to the Daejang-dong, Wirye, Baekhyeon-dong and Seongnam FC allegations, a first trial over unauthorized payments to North Korea and a first trial over the misuse of corporate credit cards.

“Lee Jae Myung was facing five trials on 12 charges, but all of them are now suspended,” said Supreme Council member Kim Min-soo at a party leadership meeting. “This is the world we wanted, where the law is fair to everyone, and even the president is equal before the law.”

Kim added that the rule of law should be restored and that Lee’s trials should resume.

Jang, however, did not issue a separate statement and remained silent. He also did not mention the verdict during a Supreme Council meeting he chaired earlier in the day, ahead of Yoon’s sentencing.

A PPP leadership official said Jang plans to hold a news conference on Friday after listening to a range of opinions inside and outside the party.

President Lee Jae Myung speaks during a meeting with senior aides at the Blue House in central Seoul on Feb. 12. [YONHAP]

For now, Jang is expected to announce a party overhaul plan after speaking broadly of “breaking with the past and wrong choices,” rather than explicitly calling for a break with Yoon or the Yoon Again faction.

“More important than severing ties is transformation,” Jang said on local media outlet Channel A on Wednesday. Critics say he is mindful of backlash from conservative YouTubers and hard-line party members such as Jeon Han-gil.

“We will launch a second founding of the nation centered on President Yoon Suk Yeol,” Jeon said during a YouTube livestream on Feb. 6. The history teacher-turned-YouTuber said he was preparing what he called a “nation-founding fund.”

“I truly believe President Yoon Suk Yeol can return to office,” said Jeon. “To make that possible, we need not only words but also funds in place.” Jeon added that he would form a "preparatory committee."

Jeon, whose real name is Jeon Yu-kwan, also claimed that by March or April, “the full truth about election fraud would be revealed and the Lee Jae Myung government would collapse,” laying out what he described as a blueprint for a new state system.

Former President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, speaks with former history lecturer Jeon Han-gil ahead of a screening of the movie ″Election Fraud: A Work of God?″ (2025) Megabox Dongdaemun in eastern Seoul on May 21, 2025. [NEWS1]

“I will abolish the executive, legislative and judicial branches, along with the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials,” Jeon said. “I will also dismantle the police, the prosecution service and the National Intelligence Service.”

Jeon also said he had prepared a list of Cabinet nominees, including for the defense minister.

“We will expand to the lands of ancient Goguryeo and Balhae,” Jeon said, referring to two historical Korean kingdoms. “That would include China’s Jilin, Heilongjiang and Liaoning provinces and Mongolia.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KIM GYU-TAE [[email protected]]