Overview
- The party’s supreme council approved proceeding with a renaming plan, with more than 68 percent in favor and a formal change targeted for next month.
- An internal automated phone poll of dues-paying members reached about 774,000 people, drew 195,300 responses for a 25.24 percent response rate, and showed roughly 68 percent support for renaming, or about 133,000 yes votes.
- Leaders opened a public call for new names with outside expert review and set a mid-February goal to complete the process.
- Chair Jang Dong-hyeok apologized for the party’s failure over Yoon Suk Yeol’s 2024 martial law declaration and framed the rebrand as a break from that past.
- Critics warn a new label will fall short without substantive reform, as Realmeter pegs party approval at 33.5 percent and the Democratic Party renews a special counsel push involving Yoon and his wife.