Opposition chair floats no-confidence vote against self

Main opposition People Power Party leader Rep. Jang Dong-hyeok offered Thursday to hold a vote on himself if demands for his resignation continue.

Jang has faced calls to resign as leader over the decision to remove former PPP leader Han Dong-hoon from the party. Apparently refusing to resign immediately, Jang said he will step down as both the party chair and lawmaker if the party members vote against his chairmanship.

But the chair said that those who go on to demand his resignation must "put their political lives on the line," adding he will be open to accepting such requests in the next two days until his return from the trip to Jeju Island Friday.

"If anyone puts their political life on the line by tomorrow to demand a vote of no-confidence from all party members, I will do so," Jang said. "If I get a vote of no confidence, I will step down from both the party chair and the National Assembly lawmaker, according to the will of the party members."

Han, an estranged political lieutenant of ex-President Yoon Suk Yeol, was accused of manipulating opinions within the party while he was chairman. He allegedly posted online anonymous comments on the party's internal bulletin board that were critical of Yoon, who was a party member and president at the time, using multiple accounts that turned out to have belonged to his family members.

The party's internal ethics panel on Jan. 14 recommended that the party's leadership expel Han from the party. The party's supreme council approved Han's expulsion in a 7-1 decision two weeks later, as soon as Jang's weeklong hunger strike was over.

Those who opposed Han's expulsion called for Jang's resignation, claiming that the party was attempting to retaliate against Han for encouraging conservative lawmakers to vote in favor Yoon's impeachment in December 2024, which eventually led to Yoon's ouster in April last year.

Han's supporters, who are a minority within the party, also claimed that the ethics panel of the party cannot be independent from Jang because the chair has the power to appoint the panel's chief.

Pushing back at the claims, Jang, a two-term lawmaker, said the party leadership's decision to expel Han had no procedural glitches, adding that the minority opposing Han's expulsion and requesting Jang's resignation "must bear the responsibility" for their irresponsible demand.