Seo Jeong-wook: Han Dong-hoon won't pick up the phone since winning — just like he ignored Kim Keon Hee's texts

YTN Radio's 'Kim Jun-woo's News Face-Off'

"Jang Dong-hyeok could win re-election as party leader; Han cannot rejoin PPP"

Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon, who won the Busan Buk-gap National Assembly by-election, greets supporters waiting on the steps outside the main building of the National Assembly as he arrives for a plenary session on Friday. [Yonhap]

Conservative political commentator and attorney Seo Jeong-wook took a swipe at Han Dong-hoon, who won the Busan Buk-gap National Assembly by-election as an independent, saying Han had been in touch during the campaign but stopped answering his calls after winning.

Speaking on YTN Radio's "Kim Jun-woo's News Face-Off" on Friday, Seo said he had exchanged congratulatory calls with Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon and Daegu Mayor Choo Kyung-ho before making the remark about Han.

Asked whether he was suggesting Han had lost his original spirit, Seo added, "I'm not sure — he may have ignored me the same way he ignored first lady Kim Keon Hee's texts."

On reports that some 2,000 members of Han's support group "With Hoonie" gathered in Yeouido on Friday to mark his first day at the Assembly, Seo said the optics were poor. "He isn't even a first-term lawmaker yet — he's a 0.5-term lawmaker, having won a by-election," he said. "For your very first day, you should walk in quietly and humbly through the back door, not put on a flashy event. It looks very bad."

Seo was equally pessimistic about Han's chances of rejoining the People Power Party. "PPP leader Jang Dong-hyeok has no intention of stepping down, and there are no grounds to force him out. I think the party performed quite well in this election," he said, pointing to the PPP's wins in 95 local government races, including 10 in South Chungcheong Province and five in North Chungcheong Province, as well as gaining additional National Assembly seats through the by-elections.

He added that the PPP narrowly lost the Busan, Ulsan and Gangwon Province races but closed the gap to within 10 percentage points, which he called a strong showing. "If anything, it's the Democratic Party that has the feel of defeat. If anyone should resign, it's Jung Chung-rae," he said.

Seo went on to say that the Jang Dong-hyeok leadership would remain in place through August next year, meaning Han would be unable to rejoin the party in the meantime. "At next year's party convention, Jang could run again, and figures like Kim Moon-soo, Na Kyung-won and Ahn Cheol-soo will all make Han's return a campaign pledge. Han's fate depends on which leadership the party members and the public choose," he said. "If Jang wins re-election as leader, Han won't be able to come back for three or four years."

"Right now, the Jang Dong-hyeok leadership has the best chance of being re-elected," he added.

jshan@heraldcorp.com