Do Korea’s conservative frontrunners have what it takes to become president in 2030?

PPP leader Jang Dong-hyuk and Rep. Han Dong-hoon. When Han entered a group chat for a forum on June 30, 2026, Jang left the chat.

Korea’s conservatives were in a dire state after former President Yoon Suk-yeol’s fall from grace following his unexpected declaration of martial law and subsequent impeachment. Many projected that, at least for the time being, the People Power Party (PPP) would struggle to win national elections.

 That has not proven to be the case. As the saying goes, Korea is incredibly dynamic. Despite initial estimations, in the June 3 local elections, Oh Se-hoon won reelection as Seoul mayor, Han Dong-hoon won Busan Buk-A’s parliamentary seat, and Yu Eui-dong won the seat for Pyeongtaek B.

 President Lee Jae Myung has seen support wane since the election. While he replaced six Cabinet ministers and the Blue House director of national policy, Lee’s support continues to fall with each passing day. 

 In a public opinion survey released by Gallup Korea on Sept. 11, Lee’s approval rating stood at 38%. The percentage of those who stated that he was doing an unsatisfactory job was 51%, the worst number since his inauguration.

 Those who rated Lee negatively mainly disapproved of his real estate policy, followed by his Cabinet appointments. 

 Only 22% of respondents viewed Lee’s justice minister pick, Rep. Kim Seung-won, as fit for the job, while 43% said he was not. Views were even more negative toward Rep. Yong Hye-in, the gender equality minister nominee: 61% said she was unfit for the position, compared with just 13% who said she was fit.

 “My rival’s unhappiness is my happiness,” and “My rival’s loss is my gain” are the two key mantras of Korean politics. As Lee’s approval falls, it’s providing a shot in the arm for the country’s conservatives.

 The words of conservative commentators are now imbued with a certain kind of strength, and confidence oozes out of the faces of conservative panelists on television and YouTube.

 The person who appears to have benefited the most from Lee’s dwindling approval is PPP leader Jang Dong-hyuk, whose rhetoric is quickly becoming very graphic. 

“This current Cabinet reshuffle is, at its heart, an attempt to cancel out the charges made against Lee and to establish a leftist cartel,” Jang said during a PPP Supreme Council meeting on Sept. 11. “The administration has pushed itself into a mess by attempting to use this reshuffle as a means to extend its dictatorship.”

 “The president would have been perfectly aware of the decision made by Yong Hye-in, who is attempting to ‘revolutionize’ communism and used the slogan ‘No Work, Yes Money,’ in a past campaign. He would’ve known that she wanted to keep her parliamentary seat and protect her group due to the close ties they have had since he was Seongnam mayor,” he said. 

“Yong’s underground organization is the same as Lee’s. They are trying to plant that same underground organization, which dreams of a communist revolution, into the heart of power,” he declared. 

 “All of this is part of a scheme to drop charges and amend the Constitution to allow consecutive [presidential] terms, something that will culminate in a leftist dictatorship. The administration is abandoning the public, joining hands with the left and heading toward authoritarian rule. It’s more frightened of the left turning on it than falling public approval. If it goes as far as a hearing, President Lee Jae Myung’s sinister ulterior motives will be further exposed. Ultimately, this Cabinet reshuffle will be the downfall of this administration,” Jang said. 

This diatribe filled with vitriol and curses sounds less like a politician’s speech and more like the incantations of a shaman. So just how far will Jang take his rhetoric?

As a very unusual politician, he was elected party chair about a year ago but has accomplished little. Early this year, he abruptly went on a hunger strike, though the reason for it is a hazy memory. A casual photo taken with Kim Min-soo, a member of the PPP’s Supreme Council, during a trip to the US ahead of the June 3 local elections also provoked major controversy.

During the elections, many PPP candidates declined to receive campaign support from Jang, including Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who won reelection nonetheless. In the end, the party suffered a crushing defeat in the elections, but Jang refused to resign despite being implored to by the majority of its lawmakers.

Coincidentally, a PPP rally at Olympic Park, which was sparked by the debacle over the ballot shortage at a nearby district, offered shelter to Jang. He practically commuted to the park daily.

Holding up a placard reading, “Jae Myung, let’s fight,” Jang wore a portrait of President Syngman Rhee around his neck and chanted slogans demanding that elections be held again due to alleged rigging. Beaming broadly, he enthusiastically waved drumsticks, going from bad to worse.

Jang violated the political custom of taking responsibility after an election loss and resigning. His new norm? Just keep going simply by holding his ground and having no shame.

A growing number of lawmakers within the PPP predict that Jang will serve out his term until August next year. He even seems to believe that he can win reelection given support from hardline party members who are part of the “Yoon Again” faction.

Jang supposedly thinks that if he wins reelection as party chief and another term in the National Assembly through the 2028 general elections, he will emerge as the next presidential contender of the conservative camp. Will his plan work?

Another beneficiary of the drop in the president’s approval ratings is Rep. Han Dong-hoon, an independent lawmaker. After being expelled from the PPP, Han faced a bleak political future. A by-election in Busan’s Buk-A district presented a golden opportunity for a political comeback, and he pounced on that chance and won the seat.

After entering the legislature, however, Han had nothing special to do. Just then, he found his target in Kim Seung-won, the nominee for justice minister, and began doing what he does best.

The more I see Han’s facial expressions and language in attacking Kim, the more chilling they seem. An acquaintance of mine wrote the following on Facebook.

“When seeing Han Dong-hoon’s eyes and movements at news conferences, I’m reminded of a baby animal playing with prey that its mother half-killed and tossed to it,” they said. “Han Dong-hoon has never been a politician, isn’t one now, and shows no signs of becoming one in the future. He has been and always will be a prosecutor.“

That may seem harsh, but consider Han’s own rhetoric. 

“This is a warning to the Democratic Party’s ‘oppas’ like [its leader] Kim Min-seok: Don’t bare your fangs and sink them into victims of stock price manipulation or whistleblowers acting in the public interest. Come after me instead of the vulnerable. I will pull out all of your teeth on behalf of the people,” he said. 

“Oppa” appears to be a mocking reference to an incident in which the former Democratic Party leader made a cringeworthy and highly criticized remark on the campaign trail referring to himself and another man in the party as “oppas” — literally “older brothers” — to a young girl. 

Kim Min-seok and his party’s lawmakers should not attack Han by questioning the source of the allegations Han raised. Yet Han’s rebuttal is extremely vicious. Pulling out teeth? That is the language of mobsters.

Han wants a senior member of the Prime Minister’s Office fired, claiming that the figure in question “spied” on him by interrupting Han’s news conference. While the official did err, Han’s claims and demands went too far.

In a Gallup Korea survey on preferences for future political leaders released on Sept. 4, Han was first at 9%, followed by Kim Min-seok (7%), Oh (5%), Cho Kuk (4%) and Jang (4%).

Han posted the results of the public opinion poll on Facebook, boldly declaring, “Han Dong-hoon will lead the conservative camp’s revival in 2028 and recapture power in 2030.” It seems that this is truly the prime of his life.

Another spectacle is the relationship between Jang and Han, as both detest each other. Jang was secretary-general of the PPP during Han’s stint as chairman, but they are now mortal enemies.

Jang blasted Han by saying, “Constantly emphasizing the ‘oppa’ remark could obscure the essence of the issue.” Han hit back by saying, “Is this really the time to beat a drum at Olympic Park?”

People around them are also fueling the conflict between the two. Rep. Woo Jae-jun, a member of the PPP’s Supreme Council, urged that disciplinary action against Han be lifted or suspended so that Han could attend the confirmation hearings for Cabinet nominee Kim Seung-won.

But fellow council member Cho Kwang-han, a Jang ally, sarcastically said, “Since [Han] is someone who really loves to show off and play on his own, I think he should just keep having fun by himself out there.”

Park Min-young, a media spokesperson for the PPP, blasted both Jang and Han for their behavior.

“They’re creating a pathetic spectacle of themselves by leaking internal prosecution documents and then facing backlash for it,” he said. “Just doing nothing and zipping their mouths would actually be more helpful for the PPP and the conservative camp.”

Then there are those who want Jang and Han to kiss and make up. Rep. Kim Tae-ho wrote the following on Facebook. 

“The principles for rebuilding the conservative movement couldn’t be clearer. We need to bring people in, not kick them out. We need competition and coexistence, not exclusion. We need solidarity, not division,” he wrote. 

“Jang needs to show inclusive leadership by embracing those who differ from him. Han needs to demonstrate responsible politics by using his political assets to help the party win,” he went on. “Our party will be stronger and will win when we combine the strengths of Jang’s inclusive leadership and Han’s fighting attitude.”

But, by all accounts, Kim Tae-ho is in the minority in his party when it comes to this opinion. Hardcore PPP voting members who support Jang hate Han more than they hate the Democrats. 

Meanwhile, Han supporters think that Jang needs to step down for there to be any chance of a conservative winning the Blue House. The expression “sworn enemies” seems made to describe their dynamic. That or “oil and water.” 

In sum, the question is whether conservatives will be able to reclaim the Blue House. Is there a future in which we see a President Jang Dong-hyuk or a President Han Dong-hoon? 

Jang has one crippling limitation: he’ll never win over the moderates. He may be able to ride Yoon Again support to another term as party leader in August, but can he take that all the way to a win in the generals in 2028? 

Han, on the other hand, has two issues. First, is that he’s been branded as a traitor by the hardcore Yoon Again ranks, which will be hard to erase. Second, he reeks of being a prosecutor. Koreans learned exactly what happens when you let a prosecutor take the reins of a country when they elected Yoon Suk-yeol. For Han to find any success as a politician, he needs to let go of being a prosecutor. But is that even possible?