Shares polling data, says 'I want to earn more trust from the people'
Sends Gupo noodle gift sets to 109 PPP Assembly members
Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon has been raising his profile within the opposition camp by sharing a string of favorable polling results, while continuing to press the ruling bloc over Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won and leveraged exchange-traded funds — and quietly broadening his ties with People Power Party lawmakers through gifts from his home district.
Han shared a news report Thursday on Facebook showing he had been named the most trusted politician among ruling and opposition figures in a recent poll. "I truly want to earn even more trust from the people," he said. "I will keep my eyes on the people alone and move forward without looking left or right."
He also shared a separate poll showing him in first place among potential presidential candidates. "Let us fight together, win together, and protect and advance the Republic of Korea," he said.
Han kept up his offensive against the ruling bloc as well. Targeting Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won, he said the so-called "oppa poison-lobbying" case was also a "legal corruption scandal," adding that if President Lee Jae Myung appointed Kim — whom Han described as implicated in legal corruption — to lead the Ministry of Justice, "the Lee Jae Myung administration won't last three years. The people will not stand for it."
Han also raised the issue of leveraged ETFs. "I will absolutely hold those responsible for the tears shed by retail investors over the push to allow leveraged ETFs," he said. He criticized the Democratic Party, saying it had always been "sincere about suppressing retail victims" — pointing to what he called the party's defense of a broker linked to a sister while ignoring retail investors harmed by alleged share-price manipulation involving Genencell.
In a separate post, Han brought up the SBW North Korea remittance case. "The money was indeed the cost of Lee Jae Myung's trip to North Korea," he said. "I will reveal the 'source' that the Democratic Party is fixated on as its one and only argument. The source is a final ruling by the Supreme Court of the Republic of Korea."
Han also moved to expand his ties with the People Power Party. On Wednesday, he delivered gift sets of Gupo noodles to the offices of 109 PPP lawmakers at the National Assembly members' office building. PPP leader Jang Dong-hyeok and floor leader Jeong Jeom-sik were among those who received the gifts.
Gupo noodles are a signature food of Buk-gu in Busan, the district Han represents. Each gift set included white thin noodles alongside five-color noodles tinted with gardenia, dragon fruit, green tea and buckwheat.
In a handwritten note accompanying the gift, Han wrote: "Lawmaker, this is Han Dong-hoon. I am sending you 'Gupo noodles,' the signature food of Buk-gu, Busan. Gupo noodles carry the story of our modern history. During the Korean War, they were a hearty meal for refugees who gathered in Busan, and after the war ended, they spread across the country along the Gyeongbu Line railway. They were a food that sustained the lives of the people in their hardest and most difficult times."
Han is also expected to send Gupo noodles and handwritten notes to National Assembly Speaker Jo Jeong-sik, Deputy Speakers Nam In-soon and Park Deok-heum, and Budget and Accounts Committee Chairman Lee Gwang-jae, along with other standing committee chairs.
mp1256@heraldcorp.com
