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Newly elected People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon makes his acceptance speech at the party’s national convention held at Goyang’s KINTEX on July 23, 2024. (pool photo)

Han Dong-hoon, 51, was elected chairperson of the ruling People Power Party on Tuesday, returning to lead the party he formerly served as the interim chief of.

Despite becoming embroiled in scandal over snubbing a text message from the first lady and accusing a rival of requesting that a fast-track indictment be overturned, Han cruised to victory with more than 60% of the vote, apparently reflecting party members’ rejection of President Yoon Suk-yeol and desire for a reset of the party’s relationship with the presidential office.

In the party convention held Tuesday at KINTEX convention center in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, Han received 62.84% (320,709 votes), which combined votes from party electors (weighted at 80%) and public opinion polls (weighted at 20%). With that majority, Han clinched the victory in the first round of the election, with no need for a runoff.

Han’s showing in the leadership vote was 9.91 points higher than Kim Gi-hyeon (52.93%), who prevailed in the party convention on March 8, 2023, with Yoon’s enthusiastic backing.

Han enjoyed almost the same degree of backing from party electors (62.65%) and the general public (63.46%).

His rivals in the race were left in the dust, with Won Hee-ryong earning 18.85% support, Na Kyung-won winning 14.58% and Yoon Sang-hyun coming in at 3.73%.

“My friends in the party, and citizens of this country, you have chosen change for the People Power Party today. That change is to be more responsive to popular sentiment and public expectations, to acquire the competence needed for the future, and to broaden our appeal. The new leadership you have elected today is ready to be the storm that will carry you forward,” Han said in his acceptance speech.

Han also emphasized his resolve to “ride the waves of popular opinion through rational debates and a healthy and productive relationship between the party and the government.”

Han returns as the official head of the PPP just 103 days after stepping down as interim leader following the PPP’s crushing defeat in parliamentary elections on April 10.

His success in setting himself apart from President Yoon Suk-yeol was cited as one of the factors behind his victory. From the time of his candidacy declaration, he stressed the importance of a “horizontal” (as opposed to hierarchical) relationship between the party and government, while proposing a special prosecutor act to investigate a case involving the death of a Marine Corps lance corporal during flood rescue efforts, with a third party to recommend a candidate to serve as the special prosecutor.

When asked by reporters shortly after his election about the prosecutors’ recent closed-door questioning of first lady Kim Keon-hee, Han said, “The prosecutors should have taken the public’s standards more into account when selecting their investigation methods.”

He also said the matter of the special prosecutor act was something to be “resolved in its course.”

Han’s two-year term continues until July 2026, although if he decides to run for the presidency, he would have to step down as of September of next year, with regulations on the separation of party and presidential authority mandating that he can hold the position no later than 18 months before the election.

The same day, current lawmakers Jang Dong-hyeok (55), John Linton (65, Korean name Ihn Yo-han), and Kim Min-jeon (59) were named to the party’s Supreme Council, along with former lawmaker Kim Jae-won (60). Lawmaker Jin Jong-oh (45) was named the council’s youth commissioner.

Among this group, Jang and Jin are considered part of the PPP’s pro-Han wing.

By Son Hyun-soo, staff reporter

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