[Presidential Contender]② Han Dong-hoon, Resignation Pressure and Key Aides' Mass Resignations... Red Light on Presidential Path

Followed the People's Will but Party Standing Uncertain
Leadership Collapses, Close Aides Resign in Droves

Han Dong-hoon, the leader of the People Power Party, claimed legitimacy by stating that he followed the majority of the people, not just the majority within the party, when leading the passage of the impeachment motion against President Yoon Seok-yeol. However, he faced the greatest political crisis as the number of votes in favor was lower than expected, and immediately after the motion passed, his closest aides resigned one after another, and there were demands for his resignation as party leader. A red light has also turned on for his presidential bid.

Leader Han first entered the People Power Party in December last year, four months before the April 10 general election. When then-party leader Kim Ki-hyun resigned, Han resigned from his position as Minister of Justice and moved to become the emergency committee chairman of the People Power Party. After the general election, the party secured 108 seats out of 300, marking the worst performance ever for a ruling party. Consequently, Han stepped down from the emergency committee chairman position. However, he was re-elected as party leader at the party convention last July, rapidly emerging as a leading presidential candidate.

Handonghun, the leader of the People Power Party, is coming out of the members' meeting held after the impeachment motion against President Yoon Seok-yeol was passed at the National Assembly on the 14th, responding to questions from the press. Photo by Kim Hyun-min

During his term as party leader, Han repeatedly took a stance against President Yoon to differentiate himself. In particular, he demanded that President Yoon resolve issues related to First Lady Kim Keon-hee, and when President Yoon refused, Han pushed for the nomination of a special inspector. He criticized President Yoon's declaration of martial law as "unconstitutional and illegal" and encouraged ruling party lawmakers to participate in votes demanding the lifting of martial law in the National Assembly. He expressed support for impeachment and took the lead in efforts to expel and remove President Yoon from the party.

However, as seen in the recent impeachment vote, the number of lawmakers who trusted Han and voted in favor was fewer than expected. It is interpreted that many lawmakers within Han’s faction did not follow his wishes at critical moments. In the previous floor leader election, Kim Tae-ho, who was supported by Han’s faction, received 34 votes, but in the impeachment vote, the number of People Power Party lawmakers who voted in favor is estimated to be at least 12, and including abstentions and invalid votes, about 23. Excluding lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo, the number is at least 11. This is considered significantly fewer compared to the 62 defectors from the Saenuri Party (the predecessor of the People Power Party) during the impeachment vote against former President Park Geun-hye eight years ago. Roh Jong-myeon, the floor spokesperson for the Democratic Party of Korea, said regarding the scale of defections from the People Power Party, "it is smaller than what the floor leadership had anticipated."

Immediately after the passage of the impeachment motion, the resignation of Jang Dong-hyuk and Jin Jong-oh, both considered close aides of Leader Han, is expected to further weaken Han’s political standing. The People Power Party leadership has effectively entered a dissolution process as all five elected supreme council members, including lawmakers Jang and Jin, resigned. According to the party’s constitution and regulations, if four out of five elected supreme council members resign, the leadership transitions to an emergency committee system. Although Han has not yet expressed any intention to resign, pressure for resignation is expected to continue, especially from the pro-Yoon faction.

The rift with the pro-Yoon faction, with whom Han had been in conflict, has deepened, and as internal allies’ frontlines have become disorganized, Han’s political future has become increasingly uncertain. The opposition is poised to take the credit for the impeachment, while Han’s internal support weakens. Attention is focused on how he will navigate this crisis.