People Power Party chair uses 10-day US trip to attack liberal administration’s ‘diplomacy blunders’ ahead of local election
Aligning with the US Republican Party is crucial for the South Korea-US alliance, the main conservative opposition People Power Party’s chair, Rep. Jang Dong-hyeok, said Monday, upon returning from a trip to the US.
Hours after his return to Seoul following his 10-day trip to Washington, Jang said he conveyed his intention to ensure that his party will align with the Republican Party, of which US President Donald Trump is a member, on a range of issues, from conflict in the Middle East and North Korea’s nuclear program to Seoul’s alleged failure to provide a level playing field for US firms operating in South Korea.
“(The People Power Party) agreed to closely cooperate with the US conservatives that center on the Republican Party,” Jang told reporters at the National Assembly.
“I persuaded (US counterparts) that South Korea will stay committed to safeguarding the alliance based on people’s unwavering support for it, although the incumbent Lee Jae Myung administration’s view on the alliance deviates from previous conservative administrations,” Jang added. “I assured (my counterparts) that the People Power Party will take on the biggest role in doing so.”
According to Jang, both the People Power Party and US Republicans raised questions about Lee’s recent X posts from April 10 that called for universal human rights to be respected and war atrocities to be investigated, referring to a video apparently showing a body being thrown off the roof of a building by Israeli armed forces. Jang said the exchange of views over Lee’s post “affirmed that Lee’s remarks were taken seriously.”
The two sides also reached a consensus that the concept of “peace through strength” should be the basis for the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, not the Lee administration’s conciliatory gestures toward the North.
In this vein, Jang accused the liberal president and Unification Minister Chung Dong-young, whose revelation of a North Korean nuclear site at Kusong reportedly prompted a partial denial of US information sharing on North Korea, of “back-to-back diplomatic blunders.”
American right-wing figures also called for South Korea to take on a role in the bilateral alliance “that matches its global economic standing” in dealing with Middle Eastern conflict, according to Jang.
Jang explained that his US visit was meant to find a breakthrough for his party’s lack of popularity ahead of the local election in June. Criticisms were leveled that Jang had “escaped from reality” on his US trip, especially after a photo of him striking a bright pose at Capitol Hill during his trip spread widely online.
“I believe that even the opposition party stepping forward to solve the problem is what earns the public’s (positive) evaluation,” Jang said. “I think that is part of the local election campaigning.”
Jang, who became chair of the party in August 2025, held talks with US legislators affiliated with the Republican Party, namely Reps. Darrell Issa, Joe Wilson, Ryan Zinke, Tim Burchett, Young Kim, Adrian Smith and Randy Fine, as well as Tennessee Sen. Bill Hagerty.
Jang said he had visited with right-wing think tanks the America First Policy Institute, Heritage Foundation and International Republican Institute.
Jang said he had established “practical hotlines” for direct communication with Republican figures, which he hailed as “the foundation for the Korea-US alliance based on mutual trust.”
Jang’s return to Seoul was scheduled for Friday, but he delayed the return after receiving an email from the US State Department, he said.
Jang, however, declined to comment on whom he met with during his visit to the Department of State, citing confidentiality of the matter under diplomatic protocol. Local reports speculated that his counterpart was either Dylan Johnson, assistant secretary of state for global public affairs, or Michael DeSombre, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs.
The party’s failure to disclose the identity of Jang’s counterpart prompted criticism from Democratic Party of Korea Chair Rep. Jung Chung-rae that Jang had returned empty-handed.
“With the president and the Unification Minister causing such diplomatic blunders, do you think any US official would be willing to meet South Korean politicians?” Jang said. “As the leader of the opposition party, I did my best despite such adverse conditions.”
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