Seoul, Jan 29 The South Korea's main opposition People Power Party (PPP) said on Thursday that it has expelled former party chief Han Dong-hoon over his family's posting of defamatory comments about former President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife on a party bulletin board.
The party's supreme council finalised the decision about two weeks after its ethics committee voted to oust Han for the conduct it said had damaged the party's image.
Han's family has been accused of posting derogatory comments about Yoon, who was removed from office following his failed declaration of martial law in December 2024, and his wife, Kim Keon Hee, on the PPP's website.
Han, once regarded as a close confidant of the ousted president, supported Yoon's impeachment following his brief declaration of martial law in December 2024, and subsequently stepped down as party leader.
Han has apologised for the controversy surrounding the posts but remained defiant, framing the expulsion decision by the ethics committee as "manipulation" and "political retaliation."
The decision marks the culmination of prolonged internal strife within the conservative party ahead of the June local elections, as party leader Jang Dong-hyeok seeks to rally support from conservative voters in efforts to rebrand the party and overhaul its image tainted by Yoon's martial law bid, Yonhap news agency reported.
Jang presided over the supreme council meeting, his first since returning to official duties following an eight-day hunger strike. He staged a hunger strike demanding a special counsel investigation into allegations involving the Unification Church and bribery claims related to ruling party nominations.
Han Dong-hoon is a South Korean politician and prosecutor who served as the leader of the People Power Party from July to December 2024 and as the 69th minister of justice from May 2022 to December 2023 under the cabinet of Yoon Suk Yeol.
Before joining politics, Han played a key role as an anti-corruption prosecutor alongside Yoon Suk Yeol in convicting former presidents Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak, Samsung executive Lee Jae-yong, and family members of former minister of justice Cho Kuk. Han served as a principal deputy when Yoon held senior positions in the Supreme Prosecutors' Office of Korea.
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