In South Korea, the ruling conservative People Power Party (PPP) has elected a new leader. Han Dong-hoon, former prosecutor and first justice minister to President Yoon Suk-yeol, has emerged victorious but not unscathed after a fractious race that local media labelled a “self-destruction convention.” All eyes will now be on Han’s strained relationship with Yoon, and his handling of opposition calls for special investigations into the president, the first lady, and Han himself.
Han won the party leadership with 62.8 percent of the vote, followed by former land minister Won Hee-ryong (18.8 percent) and five-time lawmaker Na Kyung-won (14.6 percent). The final phase of voting finished on July 22 and the results were announced at the party convention on July 23. In a mixed weighted voting system, party member vote accounted for 80 percent with the remaining 20 percent determined by public opinion polls.
In addition to the party leader, the five-person Supreme Council was also elected. The results of the Supreme Council election also went Han’s way, with the pro-Han figures of Jang Dong-hyuk and Jin Jong-oh both winning seats. This provides a bulwark against a potential ouster of the party leader, which would require four or more Supreme Council members.
Han had been the clear frontrunner from the outset but a series of debates marked by mudslinging and Han’s questionable “dropping of a nuclear bomb” dampened partisan enthusiasm and brought into play the possibility of a run-off if Han failed to claim more than 50 percent of the vote share. Conservative voter disillusionment was reflected in the low voter turnout. Debate around policy was nowhere to be seen and division among candidates was focused on serious accusations rather than ideological disagreement.
Battle lines were drawn around issues pertaining to Yoon and First Lady Kim Keon-hee, with the major conflict arising from reports revealing a text message exchange between Han and Kim in the lead-up to the April 2024 legislative election. Han had read but not responded to Kim’s messages, apparently ignoring the first lady’s offer to publicly apologize for her acceptance of a Dior bag. Both Won and Na used this issue to label Han a “traitor” who had deliberately sabotaged the PPP’s electoral hopes.
For his part, Han dropped a bombshell accusation against Na Kyung-won in a live debate, effectively accusing her of soliciting him to subvert the judiciary by having ongoing criminal proceedings against her and fellow PPP lawmakers withdrawn during his time as justice minister. While the backlash against Han for “crossing the line” fueled a negative news cycle, it did not ultimately prevent Han from taking over the reins of the party.
The victory provides Han with the platform to further build his public profile and strengthen his position within the party with an eye toward a potential presidential run in 2027.
As a close ally of Yoon since their prosecutor days, Han acted as the president’s right-hand man during his time as justice minister, later stepping down to serve as interim PPP leader in the build-up to the April 2024 legislative elections.
Han’s time as interim leader elevated his profile among the conservative faithful as he cultivated an image of a principled and sophisticated figure who can take down progressive heavyweights. But it also exposed flaws in his leadership. As a series of political scandals around Yoon and Kim threatened to derail the PPP’s electoral hopes, Han appeared to distance himself from the presidential couple. This led to a rift between him and Yoon, and ultimately the PPP suffered a crushing defeat and Han immediately resigned.
Han’s political future looked uncertain with speculation that he might take the well-trodden path in South Korean politics of an extended absence from the political stage. Han however re-emerged relatively swiftly with this run for party leadership. This time Han assumed the mantle of the “anti-Yoon” candidate, with the president appearing to throw his weight behind Won Hee-ryong.
Han’s victory thus represents another rejection of Yoon – now from the members of his own party. The rank and file within the PPP have demonstrated a desire for reform and for the party to distance itself from a historically unpopular president. Implementing this mandate will require Han to both unify a party still reeling from the chaos of the leadership race, and to reshape his dynamic with the beleaguered president.
The Yoon administration is not only facing headwinds in terms of dismal approval ratings but is also facing a strengthened progressive majority in the National Assembly that will remain in place until his single term as president ends. Unable to enact any kind of legislative agenda, Yoon has instead found himself on the defensive. He has exercised an unprecedented number of presidential vetoes blocking legislation passed by the progressive bloc. This includes widely popular laws establishing special investigations into the first lady’s alleged misdoings and into the events surrounding the death of a marine in 2023. The latter case implicates Yoon himself, who is accused of illegally interfering in the ensuing investigation.
To override a presidential veto, the opposition bloc requires a two-thirds majority vote in the National Assembly, a threshold of which they are just eight conservative defections short. A veto override would likely be fatal for Yoon, and could force his withdrawal from the party and even ultimately lead to his impeachment. From Yoon’s perspective, staving off PPP defections in post-veto voting is vital to his regime’s survival. This is the hazardous political landscape that Han will have to navigate as party leader.
Han has previously hinted at an openness to compromise on some of these laws, including the special investigations implicating Yoon and his wife. Doing so would put him directly at odds with the president – and Yoon is no stranger to injecting himself into party affairs to remove leaders who fall out of his favor, having forced out both of Han’s predecessors, Lee Jun-seok and Kim Gi-hyeon.
A political novice that clearly has his sights set on the presidency, Han will have to show a hitherto unseen level of political acumen to realize his ambitions. Even if he is able to mend fences within conservative ranks, he still faces a delicate balancing act between the presidential office, the public, and opposition lawmakers. Without the possibility of passing landmark legislation, Han will look to reinforce his credentials as a sharp critic of his political foes who can stymie the opposition’s agenda and reshape the conservative brand.