Han Dong-hoon, the newly elected leader of the ruling People Power Party, walks to his office at the National Assembly in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap Han's most pressing issue is resolving internal conflicts within party: experts By Kwak Yeon-soo Han Dong-hoon, who has been elected to lead the People Power Party (PPP), faces a range of daunting tasks, most notably repairing the relationship with the presidential office, addressing factional infighting within the party and countering the opposition's legislation push for contentious bills, political watchers said Wednesday. In the PPP's national convention held Tuesday, Han, formerly an interim leader, was elected as chairman, garnering 62.
84 percent of the votes. Former Land Minister Won Hee-ryong followed him with 18.85 percent, and five-term lawmaker Rep.
Na Kyung-won trailed them with 14.58 percent. Another five-term lawmaker, Rep.
Yoon Sang-hyun, received 3.73 percent of the ballots. President Yoon Suk Yeol and Rep.
Lee Jae-myung, the former leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), sent congratulatory messages to Han, vowing to work together despite differences. Lee is also the expected winner of the DPK's ongoing leadership race. Han, a former justice minister once known as a close ally of Yoon, had clashed with the president over politically sensitive issues in the run-up to the April 10 general elections, including how to handle allegations over first lady Kim Keon Hee receiving a luxury bag as a gift in 2022.
Tensions with Yoon resurfaced this month over allegations that Han had ignored Telegram messages from the first lady earlier this year. However, Yoon invited Han, PPP floor leader Rep. Choo Kyung-ho, as well as Supreme Council and Youth Council members, to dinner at the presidential residence in a show of rapprochement.
"President Yoon Suk Yeol congratulated Han over the phone and reiterated that the government and party should come together as one team," a senior presidential office official said. President Yoon Suk Yeol shakes hands with People Power Party Chairman Han Dong-hoon during the ruling party's national convention at KINTEX in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday. Joint Press Corps Pundits said Han's most pressing task is to resolve internal conflicts that arose during the leadership race and unite party members.
"I would say the most pressing issue that lies ahead of Han is resolving political conflicts within the party. As soon as Han began his term, Rep. Kim Jae-won of the PPP said in a radio interview that he would rather follow the party's floor leader than the party chief.
This implies that power within the party is controlled by the pro-Yoon faction," said Park Chang-hwan, a political commentator and professor at Jangan University. PPP members who are not aligned with Han include a number of incumbent lawmakers and high-profile figures such as Won, Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo and Rep. Lee Chul-gyu.
Park added, "In order to resolve the internal conflicts within the party, Han should repair his relationship with President Yoon. Resolving intra-political conflicts with the opposition comes next." Kim Sang-il, a political commentator, said re-establishing a relationship between the party and the government should be a tool, not a goal, for Han.
"As Han stressed in his acceptance speech, he should focus on bringing change to the party and meeting public mandate. If he succeeds in gaining public trust and the party's approval goes up, the presidential office will inevitably have to follow Han's leadership." On Wednesday, Han vowed to create synergy between the party and the government and work toward a common goal despite differences.
"We will create working synergy with the government and find answers through constructive discussions about issues we disagree on," Han told reporters Wednesday. Han also has to deal with politically sensitive issues, such as a special counsel probe into graft and stock manipulation scandals involving the first lady. The DPK urged Han to endorse a contentious bill mandating a special counsel probe into the death of a young Marine, which occurred during a search and rescue operation in a flooded area in July last year.
The DPK alleges state interference in a Marine Corps investigation into the death of Marine Cpl. Chae Su-geun. "After being elected as the party chief, Han said he would listen to the public.
The public overwhelmingly wants to pass the bill mandating a special counsel investigation into allegations surrounding the death of the Marine. I hope Han shows his commitment by choosing to vote in favor of the bill," Rep. Park Chan-dae, acting leader of the DPK, said during a Supreme Council meeting at the National Assembly.
Han reaffirmed his position on the bill, saying that he would endorse it if the special counsel is chosen by a third party. "My position remains unchanged. We respect the democratic process, and we will explain our stance through such democratic processes of our party," he said.
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