[Choice Times=Bosik Choi, Publisher] 

The People Power Party Ethics Committee’s decision to expel former leader Han Dong-hoon is clearly excessive. It is true that Han mishandled the so-called “party bulletin board incident” during his time as leader, but it is not a matter warranting expulsion from the party.

However, regardless of whether the decision to expel Han was foolish or not, it is an internal matter the party chose to handle on its own. The intervention by major conservative media outlets has been far too excessive. They are attacking the Jang Dong-hyuk leadership as if they were directly interested parties on Han’s side. The media look as though they are party members of the People Power Party, even a specific faction.

This likely stems from concern for conservatism. The fear is that the party’s perceived drift toward extremism or “Yoon Again”-ism following Han’s ouster will drive away centrist voters and completely ruin the local elections just months away. After the elections, the leading conservative opposition party would be reduced to what some call a “TK Liberal Democratic Party.” Some even say that the TK region itself can no longer feel secure.

While I agree that expelling Han Dong-hoon was excessive, I do not agree at all with analyses that tie this issue to the local elections out of concern for the conservative party. For example, would the People Power Party really have any decisive advantage in this election simply because Han remains in the party?

Under the Jang Dong-hyuk leadership, widely seen as a “figurehead for Yoon Again,” a crushing defeat in the election is inevitable no matter what tactics are used. Things have gone too far to reverse.

What is the opposition party’s weapon in an election? Above all, it is the figures it puts forward as the party’s “signboard.” With Jang Dong-hyuk and Na Kyung-won as its current faces, what can the party possibly appeal to the public with? In particular, apart from a small group of hardline “Yoon Again” supporters, who feels any affection or goodwill toward Jang Dong-hyuk personally? With the Lee Jae-myung administration just having come into power, choosing Jang—who lacks mass appeal, depth, or charisma—as party leader at the convention is the karmic consequence of the party members themselves.

In a People Power Party branded by Jang Dong-hyuk, what difference would it make even if Han Dong-hoon stayed? Would it help in the local elections? Haven’t we already seen Han during the presidential race, livestreaming while eating shrimp crackers? Even if Han were to repent and actively campaign for other candidates, the result would be the same. Unless the party’s main signboard changes, even Han Dong-hoon’s grandfather stepping in would make no difference.

That is why whether Han remains in the party or is expelled has no bearing on the party’s election results. His staying would not lead to any centrist expansion for the People Power Party. The major conservative media’s defense of Han by linking him to election prospects has some ulterior intent but no real meaning.

Letting what is doomed to fail fail completely and sending it into the past is also one method. Only after total failure can something new be built.

The only stroke of luck the People Power Party could hope for in this election would be to hand full authority to Han Dong-hoon and have Jang Dong-hyuk step down. But in the current reality of the party, that is impossible even if the sky were to split in two. The dominant mood among party members is likely that they would rather suffer a total defeat than accept Han Dong-hoon. Can such collective rejection be stopped with arguments like “let’s think rationally”?

Han Dong-hoon’s abilities far exceed the average of People Power Party politicians. But he is fated never again to become part of the party’s mainstream. Regardless of right or wrong, the harsh image from his days as a prosecutor and his conduct after entering politics follow him like a stigma. Talk of his “jaeseungbakdeok” (success without virtue) also continues to circulate.

The decision to expel Han has already been made, and the party has no choice but to push it through. He was connected to the People Power Party in the first place only through Yoon Suk-yeol’s power. It was not a party where Han voluntarily put down roots. Han Dong-hoon should not wage a legal battle over a political decision of the party. He must also learn the difficult decision of resignation and acceptance.

Major conservative media outlets and commentators, unless they are party members, should stop worrying unnecessarily and intervening in another party’s internal affairs. There is virtually no role Han Dong-hoon can play to save the conservative party.

If Han wishes to continue in politics, or if he has the courage to challenge his given fate, the only path is to go out holding the flag of the party he believes in. Persuade the comrades around him. If he builds such a party into something impressive, and one day watches the People Power Party shrink and decline, he may then become a true leader.

#PeoplePowerParty #HanDongHoon #SouthKoreanPolitics