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Former People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon. / Yonhap News

Former People Power Party (PPP) leader Han Dong-hoon is regaining political visibility as he takes a leading role in attacking the administration over the prosecution’s decision to drop its appeal in the Daejang-dong corruption case. Positioning himself as a prominent voice of the opposition, Han has begun building an independent political front against key figures in the ruling camp — a move widely seen as an attempt to expand his influence ahead of the June 3 local elections next year. His prospects for political comeback and longer-term presidential potential are drawing renewed attention.

According to political observers on November 18, Han has been publicly criticizing President Lee Jae-myung and the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) through social media posts and media interviews. Citing polls showing that more than half of respondents believe the presidential office influenced the prosecution’s decision, Han wrote on Facebook: “There is no way Justice Minister Jung Sung-ho secretly handed President Lee a surprise Daejang-dong appeal withdrawal gift like Santa Claus. The public already knows this.” He also demanded Jung’s immediate resignation, saying he had “made the Daejang-dong group into tycoons.”

Han further heightened his profile by proposing an open debate on the appeal issue with former Rebuilding Korea Party chief Cho Kuk and former justice minister Park Beom-kye. Political circles say he is fighting on the frontline of anti-government criticism.

Having distanced himself from hardline factions within the PPP following the December 3 martial-law crisis and the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk-yeol, Han has struggled to secure internal party support. In last June’s presidential primary, he lost heavily in the party-membership vote to former labor minister Kim Moon-soo.

This history has fueled analysis that Han is now adopting a “noise-making opposition speaker” strategy to rebuild his standing among party loyalists. “He is currently outside the PPP mainstream,” one political insider said. “His recent comments and moves are part of a broader strategy with his future political path in mind.”

Speculation is now intensifying over whether Han will run in next year’s local elections — a possibility he himself has not ruled out. Asked recently about the rumors, Han said, “I am someone who once aimed even for the presidency to build a better country. I feel a strong responsibility to create a better society through politics.”

PPP lawmaker Kim Jae-seop, considered part of the party’s younger reformist bloc, said on KBS Radio that Han will “certainly have a role to play, whether in the local elections or a by-election,” adding that Han must “make his next decisive political move.” But criticism persists inside the party. PPP spokesperson Park Min-young declared, “Han Dong-hoon’s political comeback is impossible.”

Political commentator Park Sang-byeong assessed Han’s recent activity as “a deliberate effort to maintain visibility,” adding that it reflects “moves to secure a nomination for next year’s local elections.”