Leader of main opposition party leader ends 8-day hunger strike

▲ Former President Park Geun-hye (L) holds the hands of Jang Dong-hyeok, leader of the main opposition People Power Party, at a tent at the National Assembly in Seoul on Jan. 22, 2026, as she meets with Jang, who is staging a hunger strike for the eighth day to demand the ruling Democratic Party accept special probe bills on an alleged bribery scandal involving the Unification Church and alleged bribery linked to election nominations. (Yonhap)
▲ Jang Dong-hyeok, head of the main opposition People Power Party, is transported from the National Assembly in Seoul on Jan. 22, 2026, to a hospital due to his deteriorating health on the eighth day of his hunger strike that he has launched to demand the ruling Democratic Party accept special probe bills on an alleged bribery scandal involving the Unification Church and alleged bribery linked to election nominations. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

PPP leader-hunger strike

Leader of main opposition party leader ends 8-day hunger strike

By Yi Wonju

SEOUL, Jan. 22 (Yonhap) -- Opposition leader Jang Dong-hyeok, who has been on a hunger strike demanding the ruling Democratic Party (DP) accept a special probe bill on allegations involving the Unification Church and bribery suspicions over the DP's nominations, ended his fast on the eighth day Thursday.

Jang, the leader of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), made the announcement in a wheelchair at around 11:55 a.m. after former President Park Geun-hye visited Jang earlier in the day and urged him to stop fasting.

"I am announcing an end to the hunger strike for a longer and greater fight," Jang said. "But the public's lament against the corrupt Lee Jae Myung administration and the tyranny of the Democratic Party will burn like wildfire starting today."

He was transferred to a nearby hospital.

The PPP has been demanding the DP accept special counsel bills to investigate allegations DP officials received illegal money from the Unification Church and separate claims of bribery linked to election nominations.

Jang has claimed that the DP was rejecting the opposition-led bills "out of fear" that the investigation could reveal a series of corruption cases involving key political figures from DP leader Jung Chung-rae to senior officials at Cheong Wa Dae.

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