"Jang's resignation is what many citizens want — he must take responsibility for local election rout"
"Party would be better focused without him amid ballot shortage crisis"
"Responsible political forces must not ride citizens' re-election calls into conspiracy theories"
Han sends congratulatory orchid to new PPP floor leader Jeong Jeom-sik
Independent Rep. Han Dong-hoon on Thursday called on People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok to step down, saying he "must know when it is time to go" and is acting as "an obstacle to the revival of conservatism."
Speaking to reporters at the National Assembly, Han said his call the previous day for Jang's resignation reflected far more than his own view. "Is this not what all journalists and citizens are thinking?" he said, adding that Jang was evading responsibility for the PPP's crushing defeat in the June 3 local elections.
Han also weighed in on calls for a full leadership resignation raised at the PPP's supreme council meeting Thursday. "Many citizens think so, many journalists think so, and I believe many within the party think so as well," he said. "There is a current in a great river, and attempts to reverse it never succeed."
Jang had argued that the party's energy should be focused on responding to the ballot shortage crisis at the National Election Commission. Han dismissed the argument. "If he were not there, the focus could be even sharper," he said. "It is precisely because he is there that this issue cannot be properly raised."
Han said he sympathized with citizens calling for a re-election, but drew a sharp line at how political actors should respond. "It is not right for responsible political forces to jump on that bandwagon, attach conspiracy theories to it, and use it as a path to their own survival," he said. "That is not what citizens deserve."
He invoked his proposed "three NEC reform bills," arguing that politics must produce institutional remedies in such situations rather than exploit them for self-preservation. Han also pointed to his own precedent. "Even when polling at the time of the general election suggested my responsibility was not great, I stepped down without a word," he said. "Conservative politics has always worked that way — and this person is breaking that tradition."
On new PPP floor leader Jeong Jeom-sik's statement that he would "deliberate carefully" on the question of Han's return to the party, Han said the conservative revival was about the future, not relitigating past fault. "I want to work together with anyone who shares the goal of rebuilding conservatism and restoring a proper counterbalance against the ruling party," he said.
"In that spirit, I also sent floor leader Jeong a congratulatory orchid," he added.
Han also addressed the controversy over President Lee Jae-myung's withdrawal of criminal charges, saying that "if martial law was grounds for impeachment, so is dropping the charges." He accused the Ministry of Justice of handpicking loyalists to form a committee and then hiding behind it.
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