Another outsider savior? The conservative party repeats its mistakes

Seo Seung-wook

The author is the editor of political, international, foreign and security news at the JoongAng Ilbo.

It was a morning in July 2021 when the phone rang violently, shattering the dawn silence. “How could you write something like that? Do you know what you're doing to people?” a voice on the other end barked.

Stunned and still half-asleep, I could hardly believe what I was hearing. The source of this early morning fury? A column I had written that had been published just hours earlier.

At the time, Yoon Suk Yeol had just declared his intention to enter politics following his resignation as prosecutor general. He had not yet joined the People Power Party (PPP), but 24 of its lawmakers — many with ties to former President Lee Myung-bak — flocked to his announcement event. This, despite the fact that Yoon had led the so-called “corruption investigations” into the Lee administration, ultimately resulting in the former president's imprisonment. Lee remained incarcerated when Yoon announced his political ambitions.

In the column, I pointed out an uncomfortable truth: “The boss was jailed because of Yoon, and now the subordinates are rallying around him.” I likened it to the moment following Park Geun-hye’s impeachment, when the conservative bloc attempted to recruit then-UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in hopes of a political revival. This historical parallel did not sit well with lawmakers close to Yoon.

The lawmaker who woke me up that morning, his voice sharp with emotion, demanded to know why I would write such things. “Do you think I want to support Yoon? We’re desperate to save the conservative movement. Don’t you get that?”

I pushed back: “Is anything I wrote factually wrong? Did anyone even vet him properly before throwing their support behind him? Isn’t this just blind recruitment?” (For the record, this lawmaker, though hot-tempered, is a decent person. We eventually cleared the air through candid conversation.)

Other lawmakers also reached out to express their displeasure. They framed Yoon’s entry into politics as a “patriotic decision” aimed at preventing what they called a “Democratic Party and Lee Jae-myung takeover.” In the short term, that decision seemed to work. Yoon, branded as a liberty-loving man who “does not pledge loyalty to individuals,” narrowly won the presidency with a margin of 0.73 percentage points.

But we all saw how that gamble turned out.

The man who had been anointed a political outsider — hailed as a “white horse prince” or a “hero from the wilderness” — would go on to serve just 1,060 days. His presidency ended in disgrace after repeated political missteps and scandals. His infamous comment, made upon returning to his residence after being impeached — “No worries, I’ve returned victorious. Whether it’s five years or three, what does it matter?” — left many Koreans speechless.

Now, four years later, the conservative party appears to be caught in the same loop. Another political recruitment project is underway, again under the pretext of blocking Lee Jae-myung’s rise. This time, their focus is acting President Han Duck-soo, who served as prime minister under Yoon. There is growing speculation that Han could run as an independent, then unify with the PPP’s nominee, and possibly even absorb Lee Jun-seok’s newly launched Reform Party. The dream is to form a “big tent” anti-Lee Jae-myung coalition.

The chatter has even coined names like “Hong Duck-soo” to form a blend of Hong Joon-pyo and Han Duck-soo and “Kim Duck-soo” for Kim Moon-soo and Han Duck-soo to reflect various imagined alliances.

But public sentiment isn’t playing along. Voters appear tired of the PPP’s habit of outsourcing leadership instead of cultivating it from within. They can see through the party’s old logic: “As long as they can win, they’re one of us.”

The odds of this new gamble succeeding are anyone’s guess. What’s already certain, however, is how much the PPP has lost along the way. Internal culture is stifling talent. Lee Jun-seok left the party. Oh Se-hoon, arguably one of the few viable conservative contenders, voluntarily stepped away from the presidential race. The remaining primary candidates have been reduced to the “eight misfits,” lacking both appeal and credibility.

Instead of a celebratory contest, the party’s primary resembles a forgettable qualifying match. Public interest is low. The silence from acting President Han is long and strange, yet party insiders are visibly uneasy. They only have themselves to blame.

There is even a growing possibility that the PPP may fail to field a viable candidate for the general election. Still, the party’s attention remains focused outward, chasing after figures it once pushed away. This restless search for external saviors — every four or five years — is a chronic ailment.

For Korea’s conservative party, this may be its greatest crisis: not one of ideology, but of identity and discipline. The addiction to flashy “outsiders” is not just a tactical mistake; it’s a sign of a political force unsure of who it is and whom it truly represents.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.