Bahk Eun-ji has been with The Korea Times since 2012, building a career across multiple desks. She began at the Business Desk, where she conducted in-depth interviews with key figures in Korea's corporate world. Later, she moved to the Politics & City Desk, focusing on education policy and social affairs. She later served as team leader of the digital content team, leading curation efforts on the newspaper’s homepage and reshaping print stories for social media audiences to enhance digital reach. Now back on the Politics Desk, she covers the National Assembly and the Ministry of National Defense, with a renewed focus on political developments.
PPP expels former party leader Han Dong-hoon
Han Dong-hoon, former leader of the People Power Party, holds a press conference at the National Assembly’s Communication Center in Seoul, Thursday, after the party's current leadership decided to expel him as a member over alleged opinion manipulation on the party's online bulletin board. Yonhap
By Bahk Eun-ji
Factional rift deepens as pro-Han faction calls for party head's resignation
The main opposition People Power Party (PPP) on Thursday expelled its former leader Han Dong-hoon over allegations of opinion manipulation by his family members on the party's online bulletin board.
Expulsion is the party’s highest level of disciplinary action, and he immediately lost his party membership.
The decision immediately triggered backlash from Han and his aides, who called for the resignation of the current party leader, Rep. Jang Dong-hyeok. It is expected to intensify the party’s long-simmering conflict between the Han faction, which has denounced former President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law fiasco, and the current leadership that has not clearly severed ties with Yoon.
The expulsion was decided at a meeting of the party’s Supreme Council, which endorsed a prior ruling by its central ethics committee to kick out Han over the opinion manipulation allegations.
Nine party officials, including six Supreme Council members as well as the party leader, floor leader and policy chief, participated in the vote, and eight of them consented to the expulsion.
The expulsion prevents Han from joining the party again for the next five years without the Supreme Council's approval. This means he will be unable to run under the PPP's ticket for the local elections in June, any following by-elections, the next general elections in 2028 or the presidential election in 2030.
People Power Party lawmakers aligned with former leader Han Dong-hoon talk to reporters after issuing a joint statement calling for the immediate resignation of the party leadership at the National Assembly in Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap
Rejecting the allegations, Han called the disciplinary action “a political retaliation based on fabrication.”
“They can expel me, but they cannot extinguish the desire for good politics for the people,” Han told reporters at the National Assembly in Seoul, hours after the party's decision. “We are the rightful owners of this party and conservatism. Do not give up. Please wait. I will return.”
Speculation has risen that he may run for the June local elections as an independent candidate, but Han did not comment on his future plans. As he left the venue after giving his brief statement, his supporters gathered nearby, chanting his name and calling him the “true conservative.”
His expulsion prompted an immediate collective response from pro-Han lawmakers, who accused the current leadership of undermining party democracy and deepening internal divisions ahead of key elections.
Sixteen pro-Han members demanded the resignation of Jang and current party leadership.
“The decision to expel a former party leader is a grave violation that we cannot accept,” the lawmakers said in a joint statement. “The leadership under Jang has driven the party in an unconstitutional and undemocratic direction for personal political gain, and they must step down immediately.”
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon also publicly criticized the party leadership, calling for Jang to resign immediately. “Jang has driven the party down a path of self-destruction,” Oh wrote in a Facebook post.
“This is a decision that should never be made by a party that seeks the people’s trust. Jang must step down immediately and take responsibility.”
He added that the expulsion amounted to “the privatization of the party for the benefit of its leader and loyalists,” warning that the PPP was turning itself into an object of public resentment rather than a credible opposition force.
The bulletin board case dates back to November 2024, when allegations emerged that Han’s family members had posted critical comments targeting then-President Yoon and his wife on the party’s internal platform. The ethics committee said the actions caused serious damage to party unity and discipline.
Han’s allies, however, argue that the case has been applied selectively and weaponized amid broader power struggles within the party. They describe the expulsion as part of a broader effort to sideline Han and consolidate control ahead of the local elections.
Han, a former prosecutor who was appointed as justice minister in the Yoon administration, entered politics in December 2023 as an interim leader of the PPP. He stepped down from the position after the party experienced a crushing defeat in the general elections in April 2024. However, he clinched the party leadership again three months later through the party members' vote.
He often clashed with Yoon over multiple issues, including investigations into Yoon's wife. After Yoon's martial law declaration in December 2024 and following severe rifts within the party, he resigned to take responsibility.
Han Dong-hoon, center, former leader of the People Power Party, leaves the National Assembly in Seoul, Thursday, after a press conference addressing his expulsion from the party. The current party leadership decided to expel him over his family members' alleged opinion manipulation on the party's online bulletin board. Yonhap