The People Power Party's supreme council on the 29th voted to expel former leader Han Dong-hoon.
Chief spokesperson Choi Bo-yoon of the People Power Party held a briefing immediately after the supreme council meeting at the National Assembly that morning and said, "The party member disciplinary motion against former leader Han Dong-hoon was approved by the supreme council as decided by the ethics committee," adding, "Six supreme council members, the party leader, the floor leader, and the policy chief—nine in total—took part in the vote, and the details of the vote or the for-and-against breakdown are not public."
On the 14th, the party's Central Ethics Committee voted to expel the former leader over the "party members' message board case," and the supreme council approved the expulsion 15 days later. If the expulsion is finalized, the former leader Han will lose party membership and a return to the party will effectively be impossible. Chief spokesperson Choi said, "The remaining procedure appears to be notification of the decision," and added, "The (effective timing of expulsion) appears to take effect upon the decision."
The party members' message board case refers to allegations that in Nov. 2024, on the People Power Party's members' message board, the former leader Han's family disparaged former President Yoon Suk-yeol and his spouse. The former leader Han apologized on the 18th, saying, "As a politician who led the party, I am sorry," and while first-term and senior lawmakers within the party said that "expulsion is excessive," the decision to expel was ultimately made.
Tension hung over the supreme council from before the vote regarding the expulsion of the former leader Han. Supreme council member Kim Min-su said, "If Kim Min-su had done (what Han Dong-hoon did), I would have been expelled immediately without dragging it out for 15 months or even an ethics committee decision," and added, "We need to focus on the case, not the individual. If the course and method of punishment change depending on who did it, are we truly a public party?"
In response, supreme council member Woo Jae-jun said, "There is nothing special about the grounds for (disciplining Han Dong-hoon). It seems like retaliation for supporting impeachment," adding, "Will expelling those who supported impeachment—while our party is apologizing for martial law—help in local elections or the future?"
Then supreme council member Cho Gwang-han said, "Apple, on the brink of bankruptcy, became a world-class company through bold restructuring," adding, "Only by overcoming the pain and hardship that come with change can we become a strong party that wins the people's trust."
Supreme council member Woo, who had stated opposition to the expulsion decision, stormed out during the supreme council meeting. Woo said, "I left first because I thought it was meaningless for only me to register opposition," adding, "The People Power Party is heading in the wrong direction."
Meanwhile, the former leader Han announced a press conference at the National Assembly for the afternoon. Han is expected to state a position on the supreme council's decision to expel.