Han Dong-hoon publicly challenges Democratic Party leader over Kim Seung-won misconduct allegations

Han Dong-hoon, the independent lawmaker who led the charge against former Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won over alleged new drug approval lobbying during the confirmation hearing, took to social media Sunday with a series of posts targeting Democratic Party of Korea leader Kim Min-seok.

Han demanded that the Democratic Party clarify whether it had prior knowledge of tip-offs alleging Kim's sexual misconduct and drunk driving — and chose to suppress them — while lashing out at the party's sweeping legal counteroffensive as "mob-style retaliation."

In a Facebook post Sunday morning, Han directed pointed questions at party leader Kim, asking when the Democratic Party received reports from Kim Seung-won's former aide alleging "sexual harassment of a journalist, drunk driving and gapjil verbal abuse," and whether the party had received those tip-offs before Cheong Wa Dae and buried them.

Han pressed further, asking whether the party had followed up on the reports after receiving them, and whether Kim Min-seok's position — that "Kim Seung-won is a better appointment the more you look at him, and we will stand by him" — remained unchanged even after the tip-offs arrived. He also demanded to know whether the party intended to "hunt down and publicly humiliate" the person who submitted them.

The barrage came after the Democratic Party launched a broad counterattack against Han following Kim Seung-won's withdrawal from the nomination, targeting him over allegations including the illegal leak of investigative secrets and questions surrounding the People Power Party's member message board. Han appeared to be stepping forward alone to fight back.

Han said the Democratic Party's retaliatory posture was indistinguishable from organized crime. "What else would you call it when a group flies into a rage and mobilizes en masse to get revenge because someone touched one of their own?" he said. He also said the Democratic Party had suddenly started fixating on the PPP member message board — the same issue pushed by PPP party leadership faction lawmaker Jang Dong-hyeok — adding, "I guess they really were one and the same."

Han also said the Democratic Party was putting on a brave face after backing down, insisting it had not lost despite withdrawing. "It's pitiful," he said, and questioned whether the party would even go through the motions of referring Kim Seung-won — whom he described as guilty of sexual harassment, drunk driving and gapjil — to its ethics committee. He characterized party leader Kim's morning press conference announcing the launch of a constitutional reform task force as a tactic to change the subject.

Han criticized Kim Min-seok for leading with talk of constitutional reform and the Democratic Party's continued hold on power rather than a public apology over Kim Seung-won. He added that the attempt to quietly move past the previous 20 days with constitutional reform talk would not be tolerated. "The nomination process amid allegations of new drug lobbying must be thoroughly investigated by a special prosecutor, and the sexual harassment, drunk driving and gapjil must be pursued through a police investigation," he said.