The People Power Party is closely watching the outcomes of a series of trials scheduled through the end of the year, including appellate court rulings in Public Official Election Act violation cases involving Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon and former President Yoon Suk Yeol, as well as the first-instance trial of Daegu Mayor Choo Kyung-ho.

This comes out of concern that final guilty verdicts could adversely affect not only the individuals on trial but also the party's overall standing, though an atmosphere of expecting core supporters to rally in response to offensives from the ruling bloc is also being detected.

First, the appellate court sentencing for Mayor Oh's case regarding the "allegations of third-party payment for Myung Tae-kyun's opinion polls" is scheduled for 2:00 PM on October 23.

If the appellate court fails to overturn the lower court's sentence of a 10 million won fine and the Supreme Court subsequently finalizes a fine of 1 million won or more—an amount that invalidates an election victory—Mayor Oh will be stripped of his mayoral post.

Within the party, there is also optimism interpreting the court's recent adoption of phone recording files favorable to Oh's defense as evidence as an advantageous sign.

Earlier, Oh's defense team submitted phone recording files to the appellate court in which Myung Tae-kyun is heard saying, "Anyway, Oh Se-hoon doesn't know. He doesn't know, so don't worry. I'll take care of it myself," and "Have I ever taken even a 10-won coin from Oh Se-hoon?", and the court admitted them as evidence.

However, Myung refutes this, arguing that the remarks in the recordings were made while discussing candidate unification strategies, not in the process of discussing conducting opinion polls.

If Mayor Oh ultimately loses his mayoral position, a Seoul mayoral by-election could take place next year.

Furthermore, if Mayor Oh, a potential presidential contender in the conservative camp, has his eligibility to run for office restricted, the presidential nomination race within the conservative opposition could also shift.

The case involving Daegu Mayor Choo Kyung-ho for "obstructing the vote to lift martial law," scheduled for sentencing on October 18, is also being closely monitored by the People Power Party, as it could give the Democratic Party justification to seek the dissolution of the party as unconstitutional.

During his tenure, former Democratic Party leader Jung Chung-rae stated several times, "If the allegations that former floor leader Choo Kyung-ho obstructed the vote to lift martial law turn out to be true, the People Power Party must be dissolved as an unconstitutional party."

Regarding this, former Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo, who left the People Power Party, cited the Unified Progressive Party incident last month, predicting that "if (Mayor Choo) is found guilty, the Lee Jae-myung administration could potentially move toward procedures to dissolve the party."

While the special counsel investigating insurrection has sought a heavy sentence of 20 years in prison for Mayor Choo, the People Power Party is protesting that the investigation and indictment amount to "political retaliation," pointing to continuing testimonies that there was no disruption of the vote.

The People Power Party expects the ruling in former President Yoon's appellate trial for alleged violations of the Public Official Election Act to be delivered around the end of the year.

The court has postponed the final hearing, originally scheduled for September 29, to October 13.

At stake in this trial is whether the party will have to return 39.7 billion won in election expenses reimbursed from the previous presidential election.

The People Power Party views that even if ordered to return the presidential campaign funds, it could serve as an opportunity to reinforce its image as an "oppressed opposition party."

Furthermore, the People Power Party is expected to strongly demand the resumption of trials regarding President Lee Jae-myung's Public Official Election Act violation case.

Following Yoon's first-instance conviction in July, the People Power Party urged in a commentary, "President Lee's Public Official Election Act violation case involving the dissemination of false information is a matter where the Supreme Court has already ruled with a guilty intent," adding, "Follow-up trials on President Lee's case must also be swiftly resumed to reach a conclusion."