South Korea’s People Power Party faces internal feud over Seoul nomination.

Seoul is witnessing a tense struggle inside the conservative People Power Party over the nomination process for the June 3 local elections. The dispute centers on Lee Jeong-hyeon, the chair of the party’s nomination committee, who has signaled his intention to resign. PPP leader Jang Dong-hyuk said he would meet Lee to hear his reasons in person.

During a briefing with reporters at the National Assembly, Jang stressed that “candidacy fairness is the lifeblood” of the nomination process. He said he learned of the chair’s resignation around 9:10 a.m. and attempted to contact him, but Lee’s phone appeared to be unavailable. Jang added that he would meet with Lee as soon as contact could be established.

In the meantime, Jang said he would pursue discussions with Lee promptly to listen to his concerns. The situation underscores internal party tensions as the PPP negotiates its strategy for Seoul’s local elections and the broader national political calendar.

Separately, rumors that Jang Ye-chan, the deputy head of the Yeouido Research Institute, had resigned were dismissed as unfounded. Park Seong-hoon, the PPP’s senior spokesperson, called the reports “fabrications.” Jang Ye-chan also posted on Facebook that he could not respond to every inquiry by phone and that today’s reports were false.

The broader context includes Oh Se-hoon, the incumbent Seoul mayor, who reportedly did not submit his nomination for the June 3 local elections. The absence of a formal submission by a key candidate has heightened the internal contest within the PPP as it court-tests the party’s ability to present a unified ticket in Seoul.

For U.S. readers, the episode matters because Seoul’s local leadership shapes Korea’s domestic policy on economics, technology, and security, with potential ripple effects on markets and supply chains in Asia. The robustness of South Korea’s political process, and the ability of its main opposition to field credible candidates, can influence South Korea’s stance on U.S.-Korea technology cooperation, defense coordination with the United States, and regional investment climates, including sectors such as semiconductors, telecommunications, and AI.