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Han resigns as PPP chief with 'no regrets' but plenty of enemies over impeachment stance

Published: 16 Dec. 2024, 18:51 Updated: 16 Dec. 2024, 19:12

LEE SOO-JUNG
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People Power Party lawmakers and floor leader Kweon Seong-dong, left, watch party leader Han Dong-hoon announcing his resignation during a press conference held on Dec.16 at the National Assembly in western Seoul. [NEWS1]

Han Dong-hoon on Monday stepped down as head of the conservative People Power Party (PPP), saying he has "no regret" over endorsing President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment even as he came under fire from party members for his stance.

Han’s resignation came two days after Yoon’s parliamentary impeachment on Saturday. While Han, as party leader, had urged for Yoon's impeachment, some PPP heavyweights and pro-Yoon lawmakers opposed this and made opposing the impeachment the party’s official position.

Han’s leadership of the PPP had proven tumultuous over the past year as he clashed with Yoon over first lady Kim Keon Hee, medical school recruitment quotas and election nominations. He also witnessed his party's landslide defeat in the April 10 general election.

Post-impeachment exit

Conservative People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon frowns during a press conference where he announced his resignation on Dec.16 in western Seoul. [NEWS1]

During a press conference at the National Assembly in western Seoul on Monday, Han said carrying out his duties as party leader has "become impossible" due to the collapse of the party's supreme council. All five PPP’s supreme council members resigned after President Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached on Saturday.

“I am sincerely sorry for all Koreans who suffered due to the emergency martial law imposition,” Han said. He also noted the immense public frustration and wrath incurred by the declaration of martial law in "the Republic of Korea of 2024, a developed nation."

This seemingly meant no one expected martial law to recur in a fully democratized society.

Han said he does not regret endorsing Yoon’s impeachment, which catalyzed his ouster as party leader. “I shall never betray the citizens, the sovereigns of the Republic of Korea, under any circumstances,” Han said.

Han bowed and apologized to Yoon's supporters, who were agonized by his impeachment. Han said he could find no other resolution than impeachment, although he had considered Yoon supporters’ feelings when searching for alternative measures.

“On the night of Dec. 3, the PPP, along with our lawmakers and people, blocked the illegal martial law declared by a president from our own party and protected the Constitution and democracy, which I believe is the true spirit of conservatism and my beloved PPP,” Han said.

Han said that acting in a way that could be misconstrued as defending an illegal declaration of martial law that mobilized the military "betrays this great nation and its people, who achieved simultaneous industrialization and democratization, as well as the spirit of conservatism and the shining achievements of our party, even if it was a president from our own party who declared it."

Conservative People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon bids farewell to his supporters at the National Assembly in western Seoul on Dec. 16. [KANG JEONG-HYEON]

He said that conservatives "will have no future if we align with conspiracy theorists who claim the April 10 general election was fraudulent or extremists like [far-right] YouTubers, or if the fear such people commercially generate eats away at the party."

Han said that "bloody altercations between young military soldiers and civilians" could have occurred if the National Assembly had failed to lift martial law, adding that the consequences of failing to deter the martial law imposition frightened him.

Han also argued that the illegal martial law imposed by the PPP-backed president did not justify the unilateral actions of the rival Democratic Party (DP).

“Time is ticking for DP leader Lee Jae-myung, and not much time is left for him,” Han said. DP leader Lee has been indicted for violating the Public Official Election Act, suborning perjury and misusing expense accounts.

Han concluded his press conference by wishing for the well-being of the nation. “I will not give up,” he said as he left the parliament.

Forlorn retreat

Then-interim chief of the conservative People Power Party Han Dong-hoon holds a flower bouquet at the party's headquarters in western Seoul on Dec. 26 last year. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Han entered politics last December by accepting then-floor leader Yun Jae-ok’s request that Han serve as interim chief. He was Yoon's close confidant and served as his justice minister from 2022 to 2023. In July, he was officially elected as party leader.

Yet, his leadership lasted not even a year. The JoongAng Ilbo attributed Han’s leadership’s collapse to his failure to solidify his grip over the party.

Of the 204 secret ballots in favor of impeachment, only 12 were presumably from PPP lawmakers. On Saturday, the PPP officially decided to vote against the impeachment motion.

Of the seven PPP lawmakers who publicly stated they would vote against Yoon, only five were found to have actually voted for impeachment, according to a PPP official.

A general PPP meeting convened soon after Yoon's impeachment was reportedly swept by resentment from party lawmakers. Some pro-Han PPP lawmakers allegedly confessed that they “voted against the impeachment.” Reps. Koh Dong-jin and Jin Jong-oh reportedly admitted to this at the PPP’s internal meeting, though Jin has denied doing so.

Rep. Park Jeong-ha, who served as Han’s chief of staff, said he would no longer serve for Han after PPP lawmakers demanded that he bring Han to the post-impeachment general assembly. Rep. Jang Dong-hyeok, reportedly a pro-Han figure, said he would resign from the party’s supreme council after he saw Han’s response at the general assembly.

A People Power Party lawmaker criticizes party leader Han Dong-hoon for supporting President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment at the National Assembly on Dec. 12 in western Seoul. [YONHAP]

Faced with criticism from PPP lawmakers for endorsing Yoon’s impeachment, Han said he was free to voice his opinion as party leader and retorted that he was “not the one who declared emergency martial law.”

Also, the JoongAng Ilbo said Han’s failure to mitigate the impasse between doctors and the government and his apparent conflict with Yoon weakened his presence inside the party.

Han's departure from the PPP has marked the third replacement of the party's leader since Yoon came into office in 2022.

The party's first leader, Lee Jun-seok, now a leader of the conservative splinter Reform Party, was replaced by Kim Gi-hyeon in March last year. Kim resigned in mid-December last year.

"In retrospect, Yoon regarded the party-government relationship as vertical and hierarchical, not as partners," a PPP official said, pointing to the "abnormal dynamic" that led to martial law and the president's impeachment.

BY LEE SOO-JUNG, KIM MIN-JEONG [[email protected]]