People Power Party leaders clash over phone-voting error and scope of rerun
In short
South Korea's People Power Party leadership clashed on October 15 over voting-call failures in its Yongin A local party organiser contest. Supreme council member Yang Hyang-ja (양향자) said she would skip a runoff rerun and demanded a wider investigation and new elections.
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South Korea's People Power Party leadership clashed at a supreme council meeting in the National Assembly on October 15 over failures in automated telephone voting for a local party organiser. Yang Hyang-ja (양향자), who lost the Yongin A contest, announced she would not participate in a runoff rerun and demanded a comprehensive investigation and broader new elections. Party officials rejected her wider criticism as undermining the party's election system. [ 2 , 5 , 6 ]
The dispute followed the October 8 runoff, when some eligible party members did not receive the automated response system calls needed to vote. Asia Economy reported that 44 members were unable to participate because of a telecom provider's problem. Dong-A Ilbo put the number at more than 40 and said the provider's system had blocked calls as spam. The party leader acknowledged a problem and decided to rerun the Yongin A runoff, according to Yonhap. [ 3 , 5 , 11 ]
Yang said reports of missing calls were still arriving and were not limited to Yongin A. She argued that the party should apply the same principles it invoked in protests over ballot shortages during the June 3 local elections. The secretary-general said the candidates had previously agreed to accept publication of the result and accused her of exaggerating a provider's technical problem into a failure of the party's whole system. Exchanges grew heated in both the public and closed portions of the meeting, reports said. [ 2 , 3 , 5 , 6 ]
Electronic Times reported Yang's denial that she intended to destabilise the party leader and her criticism of the lack of explanations about call logs. Another supreme council member argued that investigating the cause should have preceded a rerun decision. Party officials said the rerun would proceed and the organisation committee would decide what followed if Yang did not take part. Dong-A Ilbo later reported that the original winning candidate said on X that her withdrawal meant there would be no rerun. [ 3 , 6 , 11 , 12 ]
Why it matters
The dispute concerns how the party should respond when members cannot receive automated voting calls. Leaders disagree over whether the problem warrants a local runoff rerun or a broader review of party elections.
Key facts
- Some party members did not receive automated voting calls during the October 8 Yongin A runoff. [ 3 , 6 , 11 ]
- Yang said she would not join the rerun and called for a full investigation and broader new elections. [ 2 , 5 , 6 ]
- The secretary-general attributed the problem to a telecom provider and accused Yang of undermining the party's system. [ 3 , 5 , 6 ]
Confirmed by several sources
Still unclear
- Whether voting problems extended to other contests. Yang cited reports from other areas, while the secretary-general disputed broader allegations and said the provider found no first-round call-blocking error.
- Whether the scheduled runoff rerun will take place after Yang's withdrawal. Party officials said it would proceed with follow-up decisions if she did not participate; the winning candidate later said there would be no rerun.