A senior official of South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party on Friday urged independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon to submit to investigation over a series of allegations, escalating a war of words over claims involving Han’s family.
Han Min-su, a Supreme Council member of the Democratic Party, said on X that Han Dong-hoon faces three matters that warrant investigation. He listed allegations involving a party members’ message board, a leak of investigative materials related to former Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won, and Han Dong-hoon’s daughter’s academic credentials.
“Do you not have the courage to step up first and say you will be investigated?” Han Min-su wrote.
Han Min-su rejected Han Dong-hoon’s argument that the matters were already closed. “Don’t think of getting past this by saying the case is over,” he wrote. “What is being asked now is whether that investigation was properly conducted.”
He accused Han Dong-hoon of applying a double standard, saying the former justice minister and ruling party leader had long insisted that wrongdoing must be punished. Han Min-su also urged him not to turn his own problems into a political fight under the banner of rebuilding conservatism. He ended the post by calling on Han Dong-hoon to “get properly investigated this time, live openly in the sun if innocent and pay the price if guilty.”
The allegations have not been proven in court, and Han Min-su’s characterizations are his own.
Han Dong-hoon, who was expelled from the main opposition People Power Party, said in a Facebook post that he arrived in São Paulo, Brazil, for a parliamentary audit and accused the Democratic Party of repeating false attacks on his family while he was abroad. He said allegations raised four years ago were closed after a police investigation and a review by an investigation deliberation committee, and that no new claims had emerged. He called the attacks “blatant political retaliation” and said he would pursue civil and criminal action.
