Lee Jun-seok: "Han Dong-hoon's Next Move Will Be Different from Hwang Kyo-ahn"

Former Representative Lee Jun-seok, KBS Radio Interview
"Minister Han Dong-hoon Will Be a Much More Cautious Person"

Former People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok predicted that "Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon will take a different next step (from former leader Hwang Kyo-ahn)" regarding the theory of Han Dong-hoon's involvement in the general election, which is emerging from some quarters of the ruling party.

In an interview with KBS Radio's 'Choi Kyung-young's Strongest Current Affairs' on the 30th, former leader Lee explained the process of former Justice Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn entering politics and leading the general election before suffering defeat. Although they share the commonality of being former Ministers of Justice, he forecasted that their political trajectories would differ.

Former leader Lee said, "Hwang Kyo-ahn's approval rating for the presidential election once reached 23% after the impeachment. He was simply the top choice even among conservative voters. To be honest. The reason is that conservative supporters thought there was no one like Hwang Kyo-ahn," adding, "he was considered good-looking, had a good voice, seemed to possess the qualities of intelligence, speech, writing, and judgment, and on top of that, was thought to be good at catching spies."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Former leader Lee continued, "He could also receive support from the Christian community that forms a significant base, so naturally at that time, the idea was to break through the general election through Hwang Kyo-ahn. That election was the one where they lost 180 seats (to the Democratic Party). What this means is that putting forward someone who truly appeals to the conservative base is not necessarily a winning strategy," he diagnosed.

Reflecting on that time, former leader Lee explained as follows.

"At the time, Hwang Kyo-ahn was the first Minister of Justice under the Park Geun-hye administration and was considered a young Minister of Justice in his 50s. He gained public popularity through significant events like the dissolution of the Unified Progressive Party. Then, after entering politics, he immediately took on the role of leading the general election but faced confusion starting from deciding his electoral district, with the so-called 'hotteok nomination' controversy arising during the candidate selection process. Additionally, there were several incidents involving inappropriate remarks and hesitations in handling them, which ultimately led to losing the general election. That was when Hwang Kyo-ahn's spirit was crushed. If that hadn't happened, he might have become president by now."

Former leader Lee explained that the initial profiles of former leader Hwang Kyo-ahn and Minister Han Dong-hoon are surprisingly similar.

People Power Party leader candidate Hwang Kyo-ahn is delivering his policy speech at the 3rd Party Convention Seoul-Incheon-Gyeonggi Joint Speech Meeting held at Goyang Gymnasium in Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do on the 2nd. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Former leader Lee predicted that Minister Han Dong-hoon would consider the case of former leader Hwang Kyo-ahn when deciding his next steps. In particular, he said, "Because he has seen that, I think Han Dong-hoon will be much more cautious than people like Representative Park Soo-young who casually talk about Han Dong-hoon," he said.

Regarding former President Park Geun-hye's title as the 'Queen of Elections,' former leader Lee explained, "What I felt when I was close to her was that she only entered elections where she could win or where she could go and change the outcome," adding, "even if she was slightly behind, she would enter elections where she was confident she could overturn the results. That is her greatest strength."

Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon is reporting on visa and immigration system improvement measures at the 15th Emergency Economic and Livelihood Meeting held on the 29th at the Yongsan Presidential Office building in Seoul.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Former leader Lee analyzed, "After the impeachment, how could Hwang Kyo-ahn have turned the unfavorable atmosphere around to secure a majority? Therefore, Hwang had to struggle in a difficult battlefield and suffered political damage himself."

Former leader Lee focused on the possibility that the People Power Party might plead for survival once ahead of the election. He said, "Now, this is going according to the traditional scenario. If you look at elections, the Saenuri Party did best when they held up placards saying 'Please save us just once.' That will inevitably come out, and there aren't many other ideas left," he said.

However, former leader Lee predicted, "That hasn't been very successful either. But later on, something else will come out. If you look, holding placards in front of King Sejong's statue on Gwanghwamun Street saying 'Please help us just once for the success of the Yoon Seok-yeol government.' But that will sound a bit different from 'Please save President Park Geun-hye' or 'Please save President Yoon Seok-yeol,'" he forecasted.

Regarding people around former President Yoon Seok-yeol, former leader Lee said, "I think that among the Yoon core supporters, only the lower-level ones will remain increasingly. That's what I think," he said.