The 60th Birthday Milestone the Emergency Committee Chair Had to Overcome... Changes Brought by Han Dong-hoon Born in the 70s

The Youngest Interim Chairman in the History of the People Power Party

60 years old, 64 years old, 61 years old, 65 years old, 69 years old, 71 years old, 65 years old, 81 years old, 63 years old, 63 years old.

These are the ages of the emergency response committee chairpersons who have led the People Power Party and its predecessor parties (Hannara Party, Saenuri Party, Liberty Korea Party, Future United Party) at the time they were appointed over 10 occasions from 2010 to last year. Although the position required leading the party’s transformation and innovation, one had to be at least 60 years old to sit in that seat.

Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon is responding to questions from lawmakers at the Legislation and Judiciary Committee plenary session held at the National Assembly on the 19th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

The age of the People Power Party emergency response committee chairperson, who had to be at least 60 years old to hold the position, has suddenly become younger. This is because former Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon accepted the nomination as the emergency response committee chairperson of the People Power Party. Han’s date of birth is April 9, 1973. He is exactly 50 years old this year, making him the youngest emergency response committee chairperson in the history of the People Power Party.

The history of the People Power Party’s emergency response committee dates back to 2010. After the defeat in the June 2 local elections in 2010, the leadership resigned, and then floor leader Kim Moo-sung took on the role of emergency response committee chairperson to lead party reform and innovation. At that time, he was 60 years old. This age was the youngest among all previous People Power Party emergency response committee chairpersons until former Minister Han accepted the position.

Then, after the defeat in the April 27 by-election the following year, the leadership resigned en masse, and Jeong Ui-hwa, then Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, was elected as the emergency response committee chairperson. Born in 1948, Chairperson Jeong was 64 years old at the time. However, despite the successive launches of emergency response committees, party innovation was elusive, and after losing the October 26 by-election that same year, the 'Park Geun-hye emergency response committee' system was established the following year. This is considered the only successful emergency response committee in conservative history, and Chairperson Park was 61 years old at the time.

After winning the 19th general election with the 'Park Geun-hye emergency response committee,' the Saenuri Party transitioned to the 'Lee Wan-koo emergency response committee' system ahead of the June 4 local elections following the Sewol ferry disaster in 2014. Lee Wan-koo, then floor leader and emergency response committee chairperson, was 65 years old.

Subsequently, after the 20th general election held on April 13, 2016, which resulted in a 'minority government' for the first time in 16 years, Kim Moo-sung resigned as party leader taking responsibility for the defeat, and the Saenuri Party transitioned to the 'Kim Hee-ok emergency response committee' system in June of that year. Born in 1948, Chairperson Kim Hee-ok was 69 years old, but the emergency response committee ended without significant achievements due to factional conflicts throughout its activity period.

Eventually, at the end of that year, the 'In Myung-jin emergency response committee' system was established with the appointment of 71-year-old In Myung-jin as chairperson, but the intended 'personnel purge' was not achieved, and the committee faded into history. Chairperson In resigned with a farewell speech stating, "I hope to be the last emergency response committee chairperson of this party," but after a crushing defeat in the June 13, 2018 local elections two years later, the party transitioned again to the 'Kim Byung-joon emergency response committee' system. Born in 1954, Chairperson Kim Byung-joon was 65 years old at the time.

The Liberty Korea Party changed its name to the Future United Party ahead of the 21st general election in 2020 but suffered a defeat and transitioned again to the 'Kim Jong-in emergency response committee' system. Kim Jong-in, who is credited with drafting the 'economic democratization' policy in former President Park Geun-hye’s campaign and contributing to her election, was 81 years old at the time, making him the oldest emergency response committee chairperson in history.

Under the 'Kim Jong-in emergency response committee' system, the party, renamed the People Power Party, narrowly won the 20th presidential election held last year but fell into a 'leadership vacuum' following the expulsion of former leader Lee Jun-seok, leading to successive transitions to the 'Joo Ho-young emergency response committee' and 'Jung Jin-seok emergency response committee' systems. Both chairpersons were 63 years old at the time. The 'Jung Jin-seok emergency response committee' ended with the party convention, but after former leader Kim Ki-hyun, elected at the convention, stepped down after only nine months, the People Power Party was once again forced to rely on an emergency response committee.

Born in 1973 and 50 years old, this age falls squarely within Generation X (born 1965?1980) by traditional classification and politically belongs to the '97 Generation' (born in the 1970s, university class of the 1990s). There is growing expectation in political circles that nominee Han, who is both Generation X and part of the 97 Generation, will serve as a catalyst for 'generation change' against the dominant 86 Generation (born in the 1960s, university class of the 1980s). Joo Jung-hoon, a member of the Transition Korea party, said on KBS '1 Radio Today,' "What former Minister Han symbolizes is Anti-586," and Kim Byung-wook, a People Power Party lawmaker, said on BBS 'Jeon Young-shin’s Morning Journal,' "'Han Dong-hoon, born in ’73,' will be the grim reaper of the 86 Generation."