The main opposition People Power Party is set to launch an innovation committee this week in an attempt to regain voter trust after its defeat in the June 3 presidential election — a loss that exposed deeper fractures within the party and accelerated a drop in public support.
"The committee is being finalized, and its chairman is working to incorporate innovation goals proposed from inside and outside the party," People Power Party spokesperson Park Sung-hoon told reporters at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, Sunday, noting that the appointments are set to be announced Monday.
"The goal is to demonstrate to both the public and party members that genuine change is underway," he added.
Appointments are largely expected to prioritize diversity and balance. Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo, who was appointed to lead the committee after receiving approval from the party’s emergency leadership Thursday, is also expected to avoid appointing figures strongly tied to specific factions, to prevent reigniting internal rifts.
Ahn has said the committee will focus on broadening the party’s appeal beyond its traditional conservative base — reaching out to younger voters, residents in the broader capital region and even figures from liberal-leaning areas such as the North and South Jeolla provinces.
According to a Gallup Korea report released Friday, the party’s support dropped to 22 percent in a survey conducted from July 1 to 3 — more than 20 percentage points behind the ruling Democratic Party.
The decline has also been seen in the People Power Party’s own strongholds.
In Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, support fell by 6 percentage points from the previous week. While support in Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang Province rose slightly to 35 percent, the Democratic Party still maintained a narrow lead of 1 percentage point.
The party has spent most of the past year trailing its main rival, apart from during brief periods of conservative backlash against the liberal bloc’s impeachment moves targeting the acting president and top prosecutors.
But in recent months the gap has widened, with approval ratings slipping again to 21 percent following the conservative party's June 3 defeat in the presidential race, according to Gallup polling conducted from June 10 to 12.
While the reform committee is expected to launch with some urgency, questions remain over its influence in the longer term, particularly as the party prepares for its national convention in August.
"Once preparations for the convention begin in earnest, attention will likely shift away from reform, and it’s uncertain how the new leadership will respond," a People Power Party official said on condition of anonymity.
With several key figures — including Han Dong-hoon, former presidential candidate Kim Moon-soo and Rep. Na Kyung-won — weighing bids for the party leadership, none has expressed clear support for the committee or indicated plans to participate.
Since Han stepped down following Yoon’s martial law declaration, the People Power Party has been led by an interim leadership.
Disagreements have also emerged over how the committee should operate. Ahn is reportedly pushing to introduce and act on reform proposals weekly, while others in the party prefer to consolidate ideas and have them reviewed after the new leadership is in place.
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