Han Donghoon Meets with About 100 University Students for Lecture
Student Tears Up Autograph After Event
"It's okay," He Tries to Calm Situation... Misunderstanding Resolved Over Lunch
Han Dong-hoon, former leader of the People Power Party who recently resumed political activities, encountered a situation where a university student tore up the autograph he had given during a meeting with students. On the 6th, Han attended the '2025 University Students' Current Affairs Forum' held at a meeting space in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul as a speaker. He was the first speaker and met with about 100 university students from Korea University, Seoul National University, Yonsei University, and others. Several pro-Han (Han Dong-hoon) faction lawmakers, including Go Dong-jin, Kim So-hee, Park Jung-hoon, Woo Jae-jun, Jin Jong-oh, and Han Ji-a, also attended the event.
Former People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon is giving a lecture on the theme "Republic of Korea, and Future Generations" at the 2025 University Student Current Affairs Forum Q&A Debate held on the 6th at Cozy Meeting Space Sinchon Branch in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News
On that day, after giving a lecture for about 20 minutes, Han engaged in a Q&A session with the students. However, a commotion occurred immediately after the event. A student who attended the event tore up Han's autograph right in front of him. Student A said to Han, "This is the autograph I received when you came to KAIST the year before last," showing a sheet of A4-sized paper. Han replied, "Oh, really? Thank you."
A university student is tearing up an autograph received from Han Dong-hoon, former leader of the People Power Party. X
At that moment, A tore the autograph while looking directly at Han, and people around who witnessed this restrained the female student's hand by lowering it. Han said, "It's okay. It's okay," trying to calm the situation. Regarding this, Han's side stated, "The student tore the autograph to protest because they believed Han was a pro-China leftist," and added, "Later, Han cleared up the misunderstanding over dakgalbi, and also gave the autograph again." It was reported that after the event, Han had a dakgalbi lunch with the students near the university area.
At a book concert held the day before, Han said, "I didn't even know such stories were circulating, but they say I am a 'pro-China politician,'" adding, "I have done many things so far, so I couldn't believe it at first. But many people believe this instead of the facts." He then countered, "Who was the first to say and push for changing the espionage law provisions, which apply only to enemy states, to also apply to foreign countries like China?"
During the lecture that day, he also revealed his feelings during the December 3 emergency martial law. He said, "The moment I tried to stop the martial law, I thought, in crude terms, 'I'm screwed.' It couldn't have been good," adding, "At first, people might have praised stopping it, but depending on the camp, there are vested interests." He continued, "I could have just gone along with it. I might not have taken the lead in stopping the martial law," but said, "(However) I took the lead because otherwise, the martial law would not have been lifted that day."
He added, "If the martial law had not been lifted that day, many people would have taken to the streets, and there would have been bloodshed from clashes with soldiers of the same age as you," and said, "I was afraid that the achievements Korea has made over 70 to 80 years would completely end. My first thought was to stop that."
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