Ahn Cheol-soo says Han Dong-hoon told lawmakers to gather at party HQ; Han calls it 'distortion'

Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon and People Power Party lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo have clashed again over where PPP lawmakers were told to gather on the night of the Dec. 3 emergency martial law declaration.

Ahn recently testified in court that he recalled Han, then the party leader, being the first to tell lawmakers to convene at party headquarters that night. Han rebuffed the account as a "distortion of facts," and Ahn fired back, saying his testimony was grounded in fact.

According to political sources Thursday, Ahn appeared as a witness Wednesday at the trial of Daegu Mayor Choo Kyung-ho, who faces charges of obstructing the National Assembly vote to lift the emergency martial law declaration. Ahn testified about where PPP lawmakers first gathered that night.

Han met with reporters at the National Assembly on Thursday and directly rebuffed Ahn's testimony. "There must be no attempt to distort objective facts just because time has passed," he said. Han argued that the situation Ahn described appeared to refer to a temporary gathering at party headquarters after the Assembly had been blockaded, and that it did not match records Ahn himself had posted on social media at the time.

"I will not comment on political conduct, but distorting the facts of what happened that day cannot be tolerated," Han said. "I will respond firmly to any attempt to distort historical facts."

Han also said he would pursue legal action against PPP foreign press spokesperson Ju Hyeon-cheol, who had posted that the party leader ordered lawmakers to gather at headquarters and then moved only pro-Han lawmakers to the Assembly. "It cannot be overlooked that someone using the title of spokesperson is raising conspiracy theories," Han said.

Ahn quickly responded on Facebook. "I recall that it was former party leader Han who first told us to gather at party headquarters on the night of the martial law declaration," he wrote. "I stated only the facts."

Ahn released documents distributed by the floor leader's office at the time. He said that while the floor leader had initially summoned lawmakers to the Assembly, the party leader changed the destination to party headquarters, after which the floor leader's office also sent out a notice to gather there. "I question which part of my statement — that former party leader Han announced the gathering at headquarters before former floor leader Choo did, as recorded in the documents — is false," he said.

Ahn added that the issue had already been raised during the same trial proceedings in April and was not a new claim.

Han responded with another Facebook post, saying the process of rallying lawmakers at party headquarters and moving them to the Assembly was described in detail in his book. "I will respond firmly to false agitation, such as claims that the book contains no such account," he wrote.