Clash continues after Kim's withdrawal: DP vows accountability, Han calls it 'mob-style retaliation'

The war of words between the Democratic Party of Korea and independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon has intensified following the withdrawal of Kim Seung-won as justice minister nominee. The Democratic Party has framed Han's allegations against Kim as an "illegal leak of investigative materials" and gone on the offensive, while Han fired back, calling it "mob-style retaliation."

Han wrote on Facebook Monday that the Democratic Party had launched a "Han Dong-hoon vendetta" in the manner of "gangsters retaliating because someone touched one of their members," adding that the party had shown "no apology or remorse toward the public whatsoever."

"Let the Democratic Party regime carry out its mob-style retaliation to its heart's content," he wrote in the same post. "I will proudly accept whatever retaliation comes for doing what needs to be done for the people."

In a separate post, Han criticized the party over its handling of Yang Su-jin, a woman linked to Kim Seung-won, saying Democratic Party members were "fawning over her like a princess" out of fear she might reveal details about her relationship with Kim. "Democratic Party oppas should just look after their 'room salon princess,'" he wrote.

Han also traded barbs with Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Byung-joo. Han shared Kim's post taunting him — "Is the loudmouth Han Dong-hoon scared? We haven't even started" — and pointed out that Kim had previously called for Kim Seung-won's swift appointment as minister.

"Democratic Party's Kim Byung-joo — do you still hold the same view you had three days ago, that 'Kim Seung-won has outstanding character and ability and should be appointed quickly'?" Han wrote, and went on to say that Kim was "insulting the military" by pushing to merge military academies to punish the armed forces.

The Democratic Party, meanwhile, has been ratcheting up its own attacks on Han, raising matters related to his family and demanding an investigation into whether investigative materials were illegally leaked during the process of raising allegations surrounding Kim.

Democratic Party spokesperson Jo Gye-won said Sunday that "what the public wants is an investigation into Han Dong-hoon as a criminal suspect," and called for clarification of "how internal prosecutorial documents that never even reached a court ended up in Han Dong-hoon's hands."

Jo then said that someone who had overseen the Ministry of Justice was now "using investigative records from that time, manipulating them, to hunt people," and urged police to "secure Han's mobile phone and storage devices and preserve his communications records."

Democratic Party lawmaker Park Ji-won appeared on SBS Radio Monday and addressed additional allegations against Kim — including sexual harassment and drunk driving — saying, "Whether those allegations are true is something investigative authorities must look into. We will not simply protect him unconditionally." Park added, "If lawmaker Kim has done wrong, he should be investigated — and so should independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon."