'Candidate Replacement Turmoil' Han Dong-hoon-Kwon Young-se Debate... Internal Conflict in the Opposition, Only Getting Worse

[Financial News] Within the People Power Party, noise surrounding the 'presidential candidate replacement turmoil' and personnel renewal continues unabated. At the time, Kwon Young-se, who led the presidential election as interim committee chairman, criticized former representative Han Dong-hoon of the People Power Party, saying "He was a hindrance to the election," to which former representative Han responded by calling him an "obstacle." As Kwon responded again by calling it "groundless criticism," the public debate continued, and the controversy seems to be spreading.

Kwon appeared on KBS Radio's 'Direct Current Affairs' on the 14th and said regarding the 'presidential candidate replacement turmoil,' "Nearly 90% of party members said unification must be achieved, and about 60 out of 64 members who gathered at the general assembly of lawmakers delegated or assigned the task of proceeding with the unification process by the leadership's authority," arguing that "not pushing for unification would have been a breach of trust and dereliction of duty."

Kwon criticized former representative Han, saying, "Even though he became the runner-up in the presidential primary, he did not provide significant help to the election and was rather a hindrance in some respects." He added, "There would be no institutional way to prevent him from running in the party convention," and said, "(Party members) must choose wisely," implying that they should not support him if he runs in the party convention.

Then, former representative Han immediately counterattacked by posting on social media. He criticized, "Kwon led the forced replacement of candidates to an independent candidate at dawn and did incomprehensible actions such as asking Democratic Party figures like former lawmaker Jeong Dae-cheol to support Han Deok-soo's candidacy," and demanded, "He must confess why he pushed for the unreasonable Han Deok-soo (former prime minister) enthronement operation."

He emphasized, "If Kwon's operation succeeded and former prime minister Han, who would be investigated as a target of rebellion charges, was forcibly made a presidential candidate, the People Power Party would have truly become a rebellion party." Han also questioned Kwon's past criticism of him during the 12·3 martial law lift, asking, "Is he still of the same opinion?" and criticized, "If he still thinks the same, such wrong thinking of a senior lawmaker is indeed an obstacle to the renewal, reconstruction, unity, and above all, the restoration of public trust in the People Power Party."

Kwon rebutted Han's post on social media again. He explained, "Neither I nor the leadership conducted a candidate enthronement operation like a military operation. What personal gain would there be regardless of who becomes the candidate?" and clarified, "It was only to put forward a more competitive candidate to prevent Lee Jae-myung's rule or to slightly enhance the competitiveness of the existing candidate."

Regarding Han's 'real rebellion party' remark, he said, "I am speechless." He countered Han's mention during the primary process that "he worked together with former prime minister Han to minimize and resolve conflicts during the martial law situation, sharing the same thoughts to protect and flourish the future of Korea," asking, "If Han's claim is true, does it mean he shared the same thoughts with the 'rebellion forces' and worked with them?"

Han's 'party member board controversy' was also mentioned. Last November, there were suspicions that Han's family posted multiple critical articles about former president Yoon Seok-youl on the People Power Party's member board. Kwon emphasized, "Why can't he flatly deny it?" and stressed, "If there is a need to reflect on the past three years' mistakes for party innovation, this issue must also be examined."

haeram@fnnews.com Lee Haeram Reporter