Han Donghoon's Rising Profile Splits People Power Party Again... Clash Over Confirmation Hearing Role

Woo Jaejun Proposes "Suspend Expulsion and Assign to Judiciary Committee"

Leadership Faction: "Unrealistic"... Jeong Jeomsik Also Says "Appointment Impossible"

Personnel Verification Showdown Now Framed as "Democratic Party vs Han Donghoon"

As the political climate heats up around the second cabinet reshuffle vetting process under the Lee Jae-myung administration, the presence of independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon is growing, deepening the concerns of the People Power Party. With allegations surfacing that nominee for Minister of Justice Kim Seung-won may have been lobbied over a new drug clinical trial, the political landscape is increasingly shaped as "Democratic Party versus Han Dong-hoon." This has reignited internal conflicts within the People Power Party, which had been relatively quiet.

On September 10, at the Supreme Council meeting of the People Power Party, party leaders clashed over whether to bring in Han for Kim’s personnel hearing. Supreme Council member Woo Jae-jun proposed, "I suggest rescinding or suspending Han’s expulsion, assigning him to the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, and appointing him as a member for the confirmation hearing."

Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon is answering reporters' questions related to nominee for Minister of Justice Kim Seung-won at the National Assembly Rotunda on the 9th. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

The ruling party’s main power bloc and the floor leader dismissed this as unrealistic. Supreme Council member Cho Gwang-han commented, "He likes to be in the spotlight and play alone, so he can stay out and play by himself."

Floor Leader Jeong Jeom-sik also told reporters, "It’s impossible for an independent lawmaker and a member of a negotiating bloc to exchange committee posts. Such an assignment swap is permitted only between independent or non-negotiating lawmakers, and this falls under the jurisdiction of the National Assembly Speaker, not our party."

This battle over vetting the nominee has now evolved into a direct clash between Han and the Democratic Party. Han has spearheaded the offense with a steady stream of materials and statements concerning Kim. The ruling party, for its part, concentrated its firepower on Han, with calls for an investigation into suspicions that he leaked prosecution records during the previous day's National Assembly interpellation session on political affairs.

On Facebook that day, Han stated, "Democratic Party ‘oppa’ figures are saying they’ll expel me for exposing the truth," and added, "You can’t stop someone who only has the public in mind." This was a direct criticism of the Democratic Party, which, along with Chairman Kim Min-seok, has labeled his disclosures a "prosecution record handover gate" and is taking a hardline approach.

The People Power Party, whose presence has faded, finds itself in an awkward position. Even among the party’s own members of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee who should be taking the lead, complaints have arisen that Han is actually clouding the battle lines.

One committee member from the People Power Party remarked, "In some respects, he was one of those responsible for undermining the prosecution as the ruling party, and now he’s behaving like the third deputy chief prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office again. He’s only muddling the front."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.