The People Power Party in South Korea has expelled its former chief, Han Dong-hoon, due to his family’s posting of defamatory comments about ex-President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife on a party bulletin board. This decision came after the party’s ethics committee voted to remove Han for actions that harmed the party’s reputation. Han’s family allegedly made derogatory remarks about Yoon and his wife on the party’s website.
Han, who was once a close ally of the ousted president, supported Yoon’s impeachment following a failed declaration of martial law in December 2024 and subsequently resigned as party leader. Despite apologizing for the controversy surrounding the posts, Han criticized the ethics committee’s decision to expel him as “manipulation” and “political retaliation.” The expulsion concludes a period of internal discord within the conservative party before the upcoming June local elections.
Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok, aiming to rebuild the party’s image tarnished by Yoon’s martial law attempt, led the supreme council meeting where the expulsion was finalized. Jang recently ended an eight-day hunger strike calling for a special counsel investigation into allegations involving the Unification Church and bribery claims related to ruling party nominations. Han Dong-hoon, a politician and former prosecutor, had held key positions within the party and the justice ministry during Yoon’s tenure.
