South Korean conservatives looking for rebirth after election loss

By Ju-min Park

SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korea's right is looking to remake itself after a massive defeat in this week's snap presidential election that left it with little power to challenge the ruling Democratic Party.

New leader Lee Jae-myung and his party now control parliament and the presidency with Tuesday's polls exposing the smouldering resentment in South Korea over former President Yoon Suk Yeol's botched martial law declaration in December.

The attempt at military rule led to Yoon's removal from office and the eventual defeat of the conservative People Power Party, which was unable to overcome divisions within the right and unify around a single candidate.

The defeat has left conservative leaders pointing fingers and trading blame as the party searches for a new direction.

On Thursday the PPP's floor leader, lawmaker Kweon Seong-dong, stepped down and called for the party to wipe the slate clean and rebuild the conservative movement.

"This defeat in the presidential election is not simply a judgment on martial law and the impeachment of the president," he said. "It is a painful reprimand to the divisions of the ruling People Power Party."

The party's presidential candidate Kim Moon-soo was unable to convince Lee Jun-seok, the nominee from the minor conservative Reform Party, to drop out, likely splitting at least some of the vote.

Former labour minister Kim won 41.15% of the vote and Lee Jun-Seok won 8.34%, to winner Lee Jae-myung's 49.42%.

A controversial figure for championing anti-feminist concerns and wielding support among young men, Lee Jun-seok was briefly the leader of the PPP, and had helped Yoon narrowly win the 2022 presidential election.

He later clashed with Yoon and was ousted from the PPP.

Lee told reporters on Tuesday that the PPP should have focused on reform rather than unifying candidates.

"That's the challenge given to pan-conservatives," he said.

Kim blamed infighting during the primary process that led to him filing legal challenges against the PPP after then-acting President Han Duck-soo resigned to contest the elections despite the party selecting Kim as its candidate.

The two men spent a week clashing over efforts to form a unity ticket.

"We picked our candidate in a way that even a small child thinks doesn't make sense... I think we need deep soul-searching and reform," Kim said on Wednesday as he kneeled in apology to party members and the public.

'TEAR DOWN OUR HOUSE'

Others pointed to the PPP's failure to fully separate itself from Yoon's unpopular and unconstitutional martial law.

"They failed to draw in moderate voters," said political commentator Park Sangbyoung. "Instead, Yoon Suk Yeol sided with far-right ideas, and Kim Moon-soo, who has a history of working with far-right groups, was their candidate."

Park said the "complete downfall" of the conservatives could damage Korean politics.

"To be a true opposing force against the Lee administration, they need to be reborn, even resorting to blowing up the party and creating a new one," Park said.

South Korea's conservatives have staged unlikely comebacks before. Yoon is the second conservative president in a row to be removed from office, after Park Geun-hye was impeached and jailed in a corruption scandal in 2017.

Shin Yul, a political science professor at Myongji University, said "until they clear the mess inside" it will be difficult for the right to stand up to Lee.

"Rather than crisis of conservatives, I would call it the falling of People Power Party because of its leadership that runs the party based on self-interests, not fundamental values," he said.

In the wake of Yoon's impeachment, then-PPP leader Han Dong-hoon promised that the president would resign and the party would help lead an interim government.

When Yoon and his backers rejected that plan and fought his removal, it divided the party and led to Han's resignation.

On Wednesday Han, who unsuccessfully ran for the PPP nomination, said the party needs to cooperate with the new liberal administration on economy and security but it must not compromise on challenging any effort by the ruling party to "destroy the judiciary system".

The PPP has accused the Democratic Party of trying to pass bills that they say are meant to shield President Lee, who faces a slew of corruption charges, from any further legal troubles.

"Please do not give up," Han said. "It is the last chance to end the same old politics and to establish politics that put the people first."

Lawmaker Park Jeong-hoon said in a Facebook post that the party must change if it wants to survive.

"We must tear down our house and rebuild it. This is not a matter of factions but a matter of the party's survival."

(Reporting by Ju-min Park; Editing by Josh Smith and Saad Sayeed)