Opposition parties label PPP leader as “traitor”

Nov 06, 2024, 11:55 am

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Han Dong-hoon, the leader of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), attends a meeting held at the PPP headquarters in Seoul on Nov. 5, 2024./ Source: Yonhap

AsiaToday reporter Lee Han-sol

The opposition bloc, including the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) and the Rebuilding Korea Party (RKP) started to criticize Han Dong-hoon, the leader of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), labelling him as a “traitor.” The ruling party has been criticizing Han Dong-hoon after its leader called on President Yoon Suk-yeol on Monday to issue a public apology over the recording of a phone call between President Yoon Suk-yeol and Myung Tae-kyun, a self-proclaimed political broker, describing it as a déjà vu for impeaching former President Park Geun-hye. The internal conflict has been intensifying after Han directly hit the presidential office. And now, the opposition parties have joined the ruling bloc to criticize Han as a traitor.

According to the political circle on Tuesday, an official of the DP said that Han is finding fault with DP leader Lee Jae-myung while pretending to ask President Yoon to make an apology and reshuffle aides at the presidential office. “It is just a sad struggle to get out of the frame of betrayal,” the official said. Since the recording of a phone call between Yoon and Myung has been released last Thursday, Han has been silent for four days. Then, he broke the silence to demand Yoon’s apology, reshuffle of his aides, and a suspension of first lady Kim Keon-hee’s public activities.

Political circles say that Han has set up a strategy to go head-to-head as the opposition party has launched a massive offensive, mentioning the impeachment of the president over the controversy surrounding the first lady amid the government’s low approval rating.

“Han intended to show that he is not a traitor. But at the same time, he intended to show the public he is not a person who only sides with President Yoon,” said Kim Min-seok, a senior member of the DP’s Supreme Council, during a radio interview with MBC. “There will be always a lot of difficulties in finding the middle line,” he said.

“Han has to make a decision now. He had to make such a low-level request a few months ago. How could he lead the ruling party?” Park Sung-joon, the senior deputy floor leader of the DP, said. “He has no clue between President Yoon and public sentiment. Is he going to be awakened when the public sentiment is no longer with him?”

“Han made a demand to Yoon, but this is not enough. We hope that he will realize any measures without special investigation against Kim are far from sufficient to ease public anger,” said Park Chan-dae, the floor leader of the DP.

#DP #Han Dong-hoon