The main opposition Democratic United Party has not seen President Park Geun-hye’s declining approval rating translate into more public support for it. Rather, the liberal party with 127 members of the 300-seat parliament is gripped in an increasing sense of crisis over its future as a political force to win back power from the conservative ruling camp.

The DUP now sees little chance of winning any of the three parliamentary by-elections scheduled for late April. The party’s vulnerable position was reflected particularly in last week’s decision not to field its own candidate in a Seoul constituency to help an independent contender beat his rival from the ruling Saenuri Party.

The DUP’s concessionary gesture, however, was met with little appreciation from Ahn Cheol-soo, the independent runner popular with young voters for his clean and reformist image. Adding insult to injury, Ahn has kept distancing himself from the opposition party in his campaign for the April 24 poll.

It may be an inevitable choice for him, with a recent survey showing his support rate will be lowered, if Rep. Moon Jae-in, the former DUP presidential runner, comes forward to help with Ahn’s campaign. Ahn, a software mogul-turned-politician, conceded his candidacy to Moon in last December’s presidential election in their joint challenge against Saenuri candidate Park.

Speculation has been growing that Ahn will seek to create his own party if he wins the upcoming by-election to be a member of the National Assembly. He has suggested the desire to take that course by repeatedly saying he will go along with those who share the goal to realize new politics.

The DUP is worried that Ahn’s group may draw some party members into its fold, emerging as a major opposition force with a broader support base. In a reflection of their uneasiness, its leaders have warned that Ahn’s move toward launching his own party would lead to the collapse of the whole opposition camp.

The gloomy conditions gripping the DUP have been mostly self-invited by keeping itself detached from mainstream voters. It suffered defeats in the parliamentary and presidential elections last year despite a prevailing public sentiment against the conservative ruling party under fire for a string of corruption scandals and taking little care of people’s livelihoods. The losses, which some DUP members described as “unthinkable,” were attributed to its failure to win support from the electorate in the center ground, who felt uneasy about its preoccupation with allying with splinter radical parties and adherence to unbalanced stances sympathetic with North Korea and critical of the U.S.

If the party is to rebuild itself as a reliable political force to take the helm of the nation, it should get closer to the bloc of mainstream voters with moderate and practical views. Such efforts would help the party draw Ahn into its sphere, rather than seeing its members switch to his group. A more balanced, stable and capable opposition party is also needed to check against the administration and ensure more efficient bipartisan cooperation in overcoming a range of security and economic challenges facing the country.

In this context, it is natural and desirable for the DUP to work to change its platform to get in touch with the prevailing public sentiment in time for its national convention to be held in early May to elect new leaders and approve new planks. New clauses under consideration include those on withdrawing opposition to the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, urging North Korea to scrap its nuclear arms development and calling for the strengthening of defense capability.

The DUP’s floor leader was right to say a party will have lost its proper function if its stance on national security is doubted by the people. The party needs to remember that younger voters, who will hold a key to the outcome of future elections, are becoming increasingly sensitive to security issues and more resolute in confronting threats from North Korea.

But the party would take a wrong direction if it pushed for the revival of the system of district chapters run by parties, which was abolished in 2003 as part of political reforms. The alleged weakening of party functions at regional levels cannot and should not be grounds for reversing efforts toward more efficient and less costly politics.