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At the joint campaign rally for the Chungcheong and Honam regions in Daejeon on August 13, Song Eon-seok, interim leader and floor leader of the People Power Party (left), speaks with Hwang Woo-yeo, chair of the party’s convention election committee. / Source: Yonhap News

The ruling People Power Party (PPP) remained deeply divided on August 13 over the unprecedented arrest of a former president and first lady, with party leadership contenders clashing between framing it as “political revenge” and calling it “justice served.”

On the anti-impeachment side, candidate Kim Moon-soo denounced the move as “an unprecedented outrage in constitutional history,” accusing President Lee Jae-myung’s three special prosecutors of “committing the atrocity of jailing a former presidential couple” in the name of vengeance. “President Lee has halted all five of his own trials while ruling above the law,” he said, warning that “this drunken dance of power will soon be consumed by the people’s fury.”

Candidate Jang Dong-hyuk echoed the criticism, calling the arrests “unthinkable” and “an open act of political retaliation.” He accused the government of trampling on human rights by imprisoning the former president and now detaining his wife, Kim Keon-hee, while having refrained from jailing Cho Kuk after his conviction due to his spouse’s imprisonment. “They pardoned the Cho couple, whose crimes still anger the public, while holding a wild party of power,” he said.

Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun, who opposed impeachment from the December 3 martial law crisis until now, issued a public apology: “I bear responsibility for failing to prevent this tragedy. May this apology mark the rebirth of the PPP.”

On the pro-impeachment side, candidate Ahn Cheol-soo called the situation “appalling” but insisted the party must “sever ties with the shameless ‘martial law faction’ and ‘Yoon Again’ group,” stressing that “only reform can save us.” Candidate Cho Kyung-tae told Channel A radio, “This is justice. If you commit a crime, you must pay the price — even a former president’s wife is not above the law.”

Party leaders refrained from strong statements. Interim leader Song said on YTN radio, “I have nothing more to add,” expressing hope the special counsel’s investigation would proceed “fairly and in accordance with the law.”