![Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon speaks to reporters after attending a forum at the National Assembly members' office building on Tuesday. [Yonhap]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/09/16/news-p.v1.20260916.b4bae847fb46402bbadd6be8cb45f10c_P1.jpg)
Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon said Wednesday that if President Lee Jae Myung pushes ahead with the appointment of Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won, "many people will come out into the streets."
Han made the remarks on SBS Radio's "Kim Taehyeon's Politics Show" in response to a question about whether the situation would worsen if Lee proceeded with Kim's appointment.
"Can a government that shamelessly appoints an 'oppa poison lobbyist' as the head of the Justice Ministry last another three years?" Han said, using the term "oppa" — a Korean word for an older brother or male acquaintance — in reference to allegations surrounding the nominee. "I say definitively that he will not complete his term." When the host asked whether Han himself would join the street protests, he said, "You will find out in due course."
Asked whether he planned to release photos allegedly taken at home between Kim and a broker surnamed Yang, Han stopped short of a direct answer. He said the ruling camp appeared determined to push through the appointment "even if photos taken alone together at night at a private residence are released — or even if a video is released."
Han also pushed back against the Democratic Party's pressure to reveal the sources behind materials he had disclosed about Kim, calling the demand to expose whistleblowers "voyeurism that runs counter to the public interest."
Responding to Democratic Party attacks that he had used hate speech, Han said, "When you are fighting the true enemies of democracy single-handedly, you cannot fight — let alone win — with words alone," adding that "the true dignity of a politician lies in jumping into the mud to save the people who are at risk of being swallowed by it."
bigroot@heraldcorp.com
