Han Dong-hoon announced his resignation as leader of the People Power Party on Monday, saying he does not regret asking ruling party lawmakers to vote in favor of Yoon's impeachment.
"I will step down from my position as the chief of the ruling party," Han said in a press briefing at the National Assembly. He was elected to lead the People Power Party at its national convention held on July 23.
"The collapse of the party's Supreme Council has made it impossible to carry out my duties. President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment was painful, but I do not regret my decision," he added.
Han said Saturday that he planned to continue his duties despite calls for his resignation from the mostly pro-Yoon faction within his party. Several ruling party lawmakers claimed Han should take responsibility for the motion to impeach Yoon passing the Assembly on Saturday.
However, since all five elected members of the ruling party's supreme council expressed their intent to resign in recent days, Han has faced mounting pressure to step down. Two of the five members -- Reps. Jang Dong-hyuk and Jin Jong-oh -- were viewed as "pro-Han," while the others -- Reps. Ihn Yohan, Kim Meen-geon and Kim Jae-won -- were part of the "pro-Yoon" faction.
Han had pushed for Yoon's "orderly resignation" and later for ruling party lawmakers to vote in favor of impeachment in the days leading up to the parliamentary vote on Saturday. The impeachment motion was introduced by the opposition coalition and passed in the Assembly on Dec. 14, after meeting the quorum of 200 votes in the 300-member parliament. The results showed that at least 12 ruling conservative party lawmakers voted in favor of the motion, despite the party's main line of voting against it.
Han apologized to the public for his "inability" to find a better solution for the country other than Yoon's impeachment due to his "shortcomings" during his press briefing on Monday.
He stressed that the People Power Party swiftly moved to express disagreement with Yoon's martial law the moment it was declared on the night of Dec. 3. "This is the real spirit of political conservatism," Han said.
Han also drew lines on his decisions and remarks supporting Yoon's impeachment by saying that "it does not in any way justify" the alleged crimes committed by main opposition leader and Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Lee Jae-myung. "The countdown to Lee's trial continues," he said.
Lee is embroiled in multiple court battles regarding his alleged involvement in election law violations and bribery cases.
Recently elected People Power Party Floor Leader Kweon Seong-dong echoed Han's sentiment during a general meeting of party lawmakers on Monday, saying, "(President Yoon's) impeachment is not a ticket for Democratic Party Chair Lee Jae-myung to enter the next presidential election as a candidate with his sins brushed under the rug."
Kweon reportedly requested a meeting with Lee and awaited the main opposition's response in the afternoon. Earlier in the day, he rejected Lee's request to manage state affairs by replacing Yoon's now-suspended presidential powers with a joint consultative governing body comprising members of the ruling and main opposition parties alongside the Cabinet.
The ruling party was gearing up to transition into a leadership led by an emergency committee at around noon Monday.
Heavyweight lawmakers of the conservative party gathered in the morning and agreed to "swiftly form" the emergency committee by "appointing an experienced party member" to lead it, according to Rep. Park Dae-chul.
Kweon will act as leader of the party, but there will be a separate chief of the emergency leadership committee. Kweon has the authority to appoint the committee leader.
Han, who was the Yoon Suk Yeol administration's first justice minister from May 2022 to December 2023, was viewed as Yoon’s right-hand man after working closely with him for nearly a decade as both a prosecutor and a Cabinet member. But their relationship is believed to have soured over their differences on how to deal with multiple issues, including the scandal involving first lady Kim Keon Hee and her acceptance of a luxury bag as a gift from a pastor.
