Han Dong-hoon speaks at a talk concert held at Jamsil Indoor Stadium in Seoul on the 8th. [Photo=Yonhap News]  

At a talk concert held at Jamsil Indoor Stadium in Seoul on the 8th, Han Dong-hoon once again brought up the controversial 'posts under family members' names on the party members' bulletin board' incident.

He claimed that posts not written by his family were fabricated, leading to his expulsion, and that he was completely unaware of the posts, merely sharing opinion pieces or news links.

However, the records remaining on the party members' bulletin board and the posting patterns by time clearly indicate that this explanation is far from the truth.

According to data from the People Power Party's party members' bulletin board, from late November 2023 to mid-January 2024, approximately 1,400 posts and comments were made from accounts registered under Han Dong-hoon's family members' names, using two IP addresses. The posting times were mostly concentrated on weekdays between 8 AM and 10 AM, and after 10 PM.

Notably, many of the problematic posts directly criticized or ridiculed President Yoon Suk-yeol and First Lady Kim Keon-hee.

For instance, on December 6, 2023, at 11:14 PM, a post linked to a news article about President Yoon Suk-yeol's administration included the headline "How long must we cover up this administration's incompetence?" thus politically attacking the President personally.

Furthermore, on December 19, 2023, at 9:32 AM, a report stating "Actions that the public cannot understand are being repeated" regarding First Lady Kim Keon-hee was linked. Although mocking expressions directed at the First Lady followed in the comment section, the original poster did not prevent them, but rather allowed them to continue.

Around 11 PM on January 8, 2024, a post criticizing the internal party trend of defending presidential office appointments was published, containing the phrase "The end of an administration where only loyalty competitions remain." This, too, was not a verbatim reproduction of an article title but a sentence reconstructed by the poster with intent.

Through these posts, Han Dong-hoon continuously undermined President Yoon Suk-yeol and First Lady Kim Keon-hee.

This point is highly significant in a political context. Han Dong-hoon is an individual who was politically scouted by President Yoon Suk-yeol and groomed as a key figure in the prosecution, the Ministry of Justice, and the ruling party.

Nevertheless, the fact that organized defamation, close to slander, against the President and the First Lady was conducted under family members' names, and continued for an extended period, cannot be dismissed as a mere episode.

The larger issue is the subsequent response. In early 2024, when the party began discussing an investigation into the posts, Han Dong-hoon, then in a leadership position within the party, effectively blocked the expansion of the investigation, and it was confirmed that some problematic posts and comments were deleted in the process.

He subsequently did not comply with the party's official request for an investigation and did not attend even when given an opportunity for a retrial. Although Assemblyman Ahn Cheol-soo publicly demanded that he "prove that the two IP addresses are unrelated to his family," he ultimately refused to provide an explanation.

Despite this, Han Dong-hoon has repeatedly stated "I didn't know, it was just a link" until recently. However, the posting times, the wording of the titles, the targets of attack, and the subsequent pattern of silence and evasion all point in one direction. This is not a matter of coincidence but of political stance.

One can break ties with the power or the people who elevated them. However, if that process is marred by slander, concealment, and evasion of responsibility, it is not a political decision but a betrayal.

Whether the People Power Party can overcome its current crisis and re-establish itself as a people's party does not solely depend on Han Dong-hoon's personal explanation or his future position.

More fundamentally, it depends on whether a political purge of those within the party who condoned or stood by during the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye and the attempted impeachment of President Yoon Suk-yeol is carried out.

There were individuals within the People Power Party who acted in concert with the Democratic Party's attacks during the impeachment offensives against President Park Geun-hye and President Yoon Suk-yeol, or who effectively condoned them through silence, and those who actively led the impeachment efforts.

These individuals have repeatedly chosen 'distancing' and 'betrayal' during times of party crisis, resulting in continuous division and defeat for the conservative camp.

If those who politically isolated Presidents Park Geun-hye and Yoon Suk-yeol and sided with their impeachment are not properly punished, the People Power Party will inevitably collapse from within during every crisis.

For the People Power Party to revive, it is more important to politically condemn traitors than to create another disloyal star politician.

For example, through political punishments such as △ exclusion from nominations △ restrictions on party positions △ and deprivation of political trust, the party must clarify the minimum standards it must uphold. If this is not achieved, the People Power Party will forever be remembered with the image of a party that can betray its leaders and the people in the same way at any time.

Editorial Department, Hanmi Ilbo