Ethics committee member's revelation shows Han Dong-hoon's expulsion was a political purge

Hwang Kyung-sung, the People Power Party ethics committee member who voted to expel independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon, made a confession of conscience on the 11th, saying the disciplinary action was rigged. In a statement issued that day, Hwang, a member of the PPP's central ethics committee, claimed that "from the expulsion of lawmaker Han Dong-hoon in January to the disciplinary action against lawmaker Jin Jong-oh in August, the ethics committee's disciplinary decisions were rigged." "As a party who participated in the rigged disciplinary action, I apologize," he said, adding that he had secured evidence. He said that on October 27, the party's audit office demanded he sign a resignation letter, calling it "the leadership's will."

Previously, the PPP ethics committee had unanimously resolved to expel Han over allegations that his family members had systematically posted messages on the party members' bulletin board defaming former President Yoon Suk-yeol and his wife, among others.

Han said, "The truth has been revealed that my expulsion was a political purge," and demanded on the 11th that the disciplinary action be voided. "The current Jang Dong-hyuk party establishment absolutely cannot defeat the Democratic Party. Change is needed to win," Han said. "Among those who support the Democratic Party, opposition to my return was higher, while supporters of the People Power Party were more in favor," he noted, emphasizing that "the return of Han Dong-hoon will be the masterstroke for conservative unity and defeating the Democratic Party." He added, "Yet a few politicians are forcibly blocking it in pursuit of their own private political interests."

In a survey conducted by polling firm Hankil Research from the 7th to the 9th at the request of Kukmin Ilbo's CookieNews and released that day, 50.6% of PPP supporters favored Han's return to the party, 7.4 percentage points higher than those opposed (43.2%). By contrast, among Democratic Party supporters, opposition stood at 62.2%, 42.3 percentage points higher than support (19.9%).