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Rep. Jang Dong-hyuk, leader of the opposition People Power Party, speaks into a bullhorn during a rally outside the handball arena in Seoul’s Olympic Park on June 16, 2026, where protests continue after a ballot shortage in the June 3 local elections prompted backlash. (pool photo)

People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyuk is leading his party into a battle outside of the National Assembly to have the recent local elections done over.

On Tuesday, he joined National Assembly members from the party leadership in visiting the scene of a ballot counting center demonstration while vocally calling for a nationwide do-over of the elections.

Critics are accusing him of inciting social disorder over the botched election oversight job by the National Election Commission to further his own political interests and hold onto his position as party leader.

Jang paid a visit Tuesday to the scene of a demonstration at the handball stadium in Olympic Park, located in Seoul’s Songpa District, where demonstrators have been clashing with police. The stadium had served as a ballot counting location for the local elections earlier this month. 

“What the citizens want now is a restaged election, a special counsel [investigation], and reforms to the National Election Commission,” he declared, adding that the PPP would “join the public in watching over this location.”

In a Facebook message a day earlier, he wrote, “As of today, I will be going to Olympic Park as a citizen and as leader of the People Power Party.” Other members aligned with the PPP’s party leadership who have shown up at the demonstrations include Reps. Park Jun-tae, Park Choong-kwon, Kim Jang-kyom, Kim Meen-geon, Kim Mi-ae, Kim Tae-kyu, Choi Soo-jin, Park Dae-chul, Suh Cheon-ho and Suh Myung-ok.

Before his visit, Jang appeared on the “Heo Min News Show” on the Munhwa Ilbo’s YouTube channel. There, he announced plans to submit petitions for a full-scale restaging of the election in several regions, adding North Chungcheong Province to a list that previously included Seoul, Gyeonggi Province, Incheon, Busan, Ulsan, and South Jeolla Province/Gwangju.

Jang stated that he planned an additional appeal for “North Chungcheong Province, where the voters list has disappeared.”

“By tomorrow, we will have tracked down all the additional problem regions and expand the scope of appeals to as much as possible nationwide,” he declared.

Politicians and other observers have been critical of Jang’s actions, suggesting his aims are less about dealing properly with the National Election Commission situation than with promoting conflict and disorder with irresponsible incitement tactics.

 “He’s been repeating conspiracy theories over and over at Olympic Park like he’s doing an Indian rain ritual,” Democratic Party floor leader Rep. Han Byung-do said at a parliamentary countermeasures meeting on Tuesday.

“He needs to abandon these indiscriminate petitions at once and stop stoking conspiracy theories,” Han urged.

In a Facebook message, Reform Party leader Rep. Lee Jun-seok wrote, “To simply shout, ‘Void it all and redo it’ without having a plan for how [a nationwide election do-over] could be done is not a situation but irresponsible rabblerousing.”

Lee Jun-han, a professor of political science and international studies at Incheon National University, said Jang appeared to be exploiting the issue to shore up his political standing.

“As someone with a background in the judiciary, [Jang] is fully capable of judging how realistic a nationwide election do-over scenario would be, but instead he’s using die-hard supporters to drum up social disorder in a bid to hold on to his position as party leader,” the professor said. 

Protesters outside the handball stadium in Seoul's Olympic Park on June 17, 2026, wave Korean flags and chant slogans about holding a revote and election fraud. (Choi Hyeon-su/Hankyoreh)

By Jang Na-rye, staff reporter; Jeong Bong-bi, staff reporter; Yu Yeong-jae, staff reporter

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