The People Power Party held a rally on the 22nd billed as a public report on the Lee Jae-myung administration's policy failures, opening a campaign to sway public opinion ahead of the Chuseok holiday. The party plans to widen its offensive around the government's second round of cabinet changes as well as the economy and foreign and security policy, while gauging public sentiment over the holiday before escalating step by step to street rallies.
Party leader Jang Dong-hyuk and other lawmakers held the rally on the steps in front of the National Assembly's main building in Yeouido, Seoul. Party members from across the country attended, including heads of local party chapters outside the National Assembly and local council members. The party put attendance at about 10,000 by its own count.
Jang ran through issues one by one, from security matters including the recent landmine explosion in the Army's 25th Division to housing and farmland policy and judicial independence. He called in particular for a halt to a full-scale farmland survey that has drawn controversy and for a change in policy direction, while arguing for a special prosecutor to determine how decisions were made on leveraged exchange-traded funds.
"The walls are collapsing, the pillars are collapsing, the roof is leaking, and even the furnishings are being blown away," he said. "What is ruining Korea right now is President Lee Jae-myung and Kim Hyun-ji." He added, "President Lee Jae-myung causes a mess, and when he is held to account, all he says is 'So what do you want me to do?'" He then led the crowd in alternating chants of "So what do you want me to do?" and "Get out," lifting the mood at the site.
Rep. Park Dae-chul said, "The president's misguided habit of micromanaging everything has brought failure everywhere and opened the gates of hell for the public." He added, "The people weep once over the hell of daily life, and a second time over a president who blames others."
The party's decision to widen its front around the first year of the Lee Jae-myung government is seen as a move to capture public sentiment at Chuseok family tables and, beyond the holiday, to seize the political initiative. The aim is to link questions over the government's vetting of nominees — brought to the fore by the successive withdrawals of former minister nominees Yong Hye-in and Kim Seung-won — to arguments that policy has failed on the economy, foreign and security affairs and the judiciary, sustaining momentum against the government.
Casting the rally as a prelude to street protests is an extension of that strategy. With the president's approval rating hovering in the 30% range and major issues on the table, including investment in the United States and plans for a semiconductor cluster in the Honam region, the party intends to use the rally as a starting point to align its ranks for the fight against the government.
Rather than shifting fully to street rallies, however, the party is more likely to decide its next steps after pulling together the views it collects in local constituencies over the holiday. Concentrating on street protests while setting aside the fight inside the National Assembly, with the regular session under way, risks a public backlash.
