The People Power Party's Membership Increased by 35,000 in One Month... 7,700 More in Just One Week

Convention Effects: Debate Battles and the Entry of Opposition Presidential Candidates

Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, is delivering a greeting at the People Power Party Seoul City Party Office-Seoul Metropolitan Government Party-Government Meeting held at the central party office in Yeouido, Seoul on the 2nd. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] It has been identified that the People Power Party has increased its membership by approximately 35,000 members over the past month since the last party convention. Within the party, about 7,700 new members joined during the past week when the debate battle began and presidential candidates across the conservative opposition started their activities.

According to the People Power Party on the 2nd, the number of party members increased by about 35,000 from May 31, just before the party convention, to the 25th of last month. Regarding this, Park Seong-jung, chairman of the Seoul City Party Committee, said at a morning meeting with the Seoul Metropolitan Council, "Before the party convention, the number of new members was about 600 per week, but after the election period, it increased by 3,000 per week," adding, "The growth rate is more than five times."

Among these, the proportion of new online members reached 54.89% (about 19,200 people). Chairman Park explained, "The number of online members used to be around 200 per week on average, but after the party convention, it has increased by nearly 2,300." This is related to the recent increase in the participation rate of the 20s and 30s generation as the People Power Party has increased its online promotion efforts considering the COVID-19 situation.

The recent trend of increasing party members appears to be due to the sustained public interest following the successful party convention in April, the launch of the Lee Jun-seok leadership, and the debate battle. Moreover, with the presidential election just over nine months away, the so-called 'convention effect' is believed to have taken place as external candidates such as former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol and former Board of Audit and Inspection Chairman Choi Jae-hyung became hot topics.

In fact, from the 21st to the 25th of last month, right after the debate battle announcement, about 7,700 new members joined the People Power Party. Among them, the proportion of responsible members paying monthly dues of 1,000 won or more reached 86.01%, about 6,622 people.

By age group, the increase was notable among those in their 50s and 60s. Among new members, those in their 60s accounted for 22.31%, those in their 50s 22.45%, 40s 16.62%, 30s 14.58%, and 20s 14.15%, in that order. Han Ki-ho, Secretary-General, said in a phone interview with Asia Economy on the same day, "The increase is balanced across all generations, including middle-aged people as well as youth," and added, "It is evidence that the public believes our party has a future."

However, a gender imbalance favoring males continued. During the same period, 61.7% of the increase was male and 38.3% female, showing a higher growth rate among males. Regarding concerns about gender imbalance, Representative Lee responded at the morning Seoul City Party Committee meeting, "Female members have also increased significantly compared to the past," and said, "The disparity is due to a sharp increase in males in some generations, but overall, it is not that only male members have increased significantly."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.