People Power Party (PPP) leader Jang Dong-hyeok took direct aim at independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon on the 15th, saying, "What kind of logic is it to say you want to rejoin the party after driving the People Power Party to a dead end, to the edge of a cliff?"
Jang made the remarks during an appearance on a YouTube channel that day, referring to the dispute between PPP lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo and Han over testimony in the trial of Daegu Mayor Choo Kyung-ho, who is charged with obstructing the vote to lift martial law.
Regarding Ahn's testimony that "it was Han, then the party leader, who directed people to gather at party headquarters rather than the National Assembly during martial law," Jang asked, "If (Han) claims Ahn's testimony is wrong, is he saying Mayor Choo should be punished? If Mayor Choo is punished for insurrection, is he saying he will brand the People Power Party as an insurrection party and have it dissolved?" He then countered, "If he wants to remain a historic figure who stopped martial law while turning the People Power Party into an insurrection party to be dissolved, why is he trying to rejoin such a party?"
Jang also pointed out that Han's claim that he "led the repeal of martial law" was not true. "He is puffing himself up as the person who led the repeal of martial law, but in fact he did not even have a vote on repealing martial law," he said. "It was the lawmakers at the time who went to the plenary chamber and voted to lift martial law." Taking aim at Han, Jang argued, "All a person who could not even enter the plenary chamber did was come in and shake hands with President Lee Jae-myung, who was the party leader at the time."
He stressed that Han's party return had lost its justification. "Even those who had left open the possibility of his return thought, 'His return won't work,' upon seeing this testimony," Jang said sharply. "Even lawmakers within the party who had been cheering for Han's return have now lost any grounds to even mention it." Referring to the "party member bulletin board" allegations, he drew a line, saying, "Han's problem goes beyond acts harmful to the party — it is criminal conduct," adding, "It is not even appropriate to talk about the return of someone expelled for a crime."
He went on to say, "It is not important to bring one person over to our side. Only when combat capability rises after bringing someone in can we call it addition politics. If the number of people increases but our forces actually weaken, that is subtraction politics." Jang added, "If we bring a sniper who is really good with a gun over to our side, it would help our combat capability if he fires at the enemy, but if he turns his extraordinary marksmanship on our own side, wouldn't that be a great disaster?"
