Returning 73 days after taking responsibility for the defeat in April 10 general elections, Han Dong-hoon, former interim leader of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), has thrown his hat in the race for the party leadership. He also dropped a "bombshell" of a proposal -- for the PPP to lead a special counsel bill for an investigation into the death last July of a Marine during a flood rescue operations. The probe into the death of Marine Cpl. Chae Su-geun is a politically fraught issue. After the military investigations, the Corruption Investigation Office For High-ranking Officials, is currently conducting aprobe into whether the presidential office and the ministry influenced in the investigations .
If Han meant to provoke his party into a new state of mind, it would be a well-aimed strategy for the lackluster conservative party. The president already has vetoed an opposition-led bill for a special counsel probe into this case. The large opposition bloc has put forth yet another special counsel bill in the new Assembly.
Prodded by the press, Han explained that the PPP can properly address the "doubts people harbor" by vetoing the opposition bloc-led new counsel bill and supporting a new one. The PPP-backed investigation will be conducted by a special counsel chosen by a "third party" such as the chief justice instead of the parties. This proposal sounds relevant, and the ruling party should not shy away from accepting it.
Han's special counsel comment immediately created a fissure among his contenders -- Rep. Na Kyung-won, Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun and former Land Minister Won Hee-ryong. These three veteran lawmakers threw their hats into the ring. Reps. Na and Yoon are five-term lawmakers; Won is a three-term lawmaker who lost to Rep. Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) in an Incheon district in the recent elections. Na criticized Han for his naive idea, asking back if he was willing to accept a special counsel investigation on himself. Won said accepting the special counsel will bring about a "joint collapse," while Rep. Yoon attacked Han for sounding more like a candidate running for the main opposition the DPK.
The presidential office has stressed that it will keep its distance from party leadership race.
Nevertheless, discomfort is rising over his breakaway pledges as reflecting a desire to carve out a new political path. A Gallup Korea poll, surveyed on 1,008 adults on June 14 and 15, found Han leading among potential candidates with 59 percent support, followed by Na with 10 percent.With the president's popularity in doldrums, and a large majority of the public supporting a special counsel to investigate the Marine's death, Han's strategy may well work.
The four candidates however agreed on one point that for the conservative party to succeed in the years, there needs to be a more horizontal "party-presidential office" relationship. The unilateral leadership by the president that frequently resulted in insufficient explanations, due process and apologies on such issues as the probe into the Marine's death and issues regarding the first lady attributed to the electoral defeat on April 10. Han also did not avoid this latter sensitive issue, calling for appointing a special inspector to look into affairs of the presidential family and reviving the office to manage first lady's schedule.
The PPP with its 108 seats faces the large opposition bloc holding 192 seats in the new National Assembly. With about a month or so left, the PPP and its candidates must use the convention to hammer out a vision and policies for its supporters who want a conservative party's take to providing just and fair answers to challenges of an aging society, declining population, changing technology and climate and growing North Korea-Russia ties. The DPK is also gearing up for its Aug. 18 party convention with its leader Lee Jae-myung likely to run for the leadership post. Parties may well do huge service to voters by putting forth an array of new innovative blueprints for the future this summer.