Ruling party warns leadership contenders to halt mudslinging

The ruling party People Power Party’s election management committee formed to handle the ongoing race to select its next leader said Friday it issued a warning to two of its contenders, requesting them to halt their “personal attacks” against each other.

The committee revealed that it had sent warning letters to former Justice Minister and party interim leader Han Dong-hoon and former Land Minister Won Hee-ryong – two of four candidates for the chairman position – for breaching the party charter promoting “fair competition,” late Thursday.

The warning addressed the intense mudslinging and slander between the two candidates which started last week and continued to Thursday's televised debate among all candidates.

During the heated debate, Won mentioned several allegations against Han, including that the former interim leader sought to illegally manipulate public opinion against him online through a private team when he was justice minister from mid-2022 to December last year. Then he asked Han how he would take responsibility if the allegations were true.

Han replied that he would retire from politics if such accusations were confirmed.

A committee official said the warning was issued based on the “judgment that the situation became serious.” The official said the committee plans to issue additional warnings and even more serious sanctions if the “tensions continue to grow.”

In a regional event Friday hosted by journalists in Daegu, Han criticized the committee’s decision, calling it “mechanical.”

“It is like (a school) issuing the same warning to the bully and the victim. The committee’s decision merely seems like a mechanical attempt to balance the situation out,” he said in the country’s central city.

He also labeled Won’s criticism against him during Thursday’s debate as “false accusations.”

People Power Party Floor Leader Rep. Choo Kyung-ho expressed concerns over “excessive” mudslinging between the candidates early Friday, as the convention, scheduled for July 23 and where the election is set to take place, inches closer.

“I request all of those engaged in (the upcoming election) to refrain from excessive slandering (of their opponents),” Choo said during an intra-party leadership meeting.

“The spokesperson (for all candidates) must remind themselves that the opinions and the messages they convey not only represent the candidates' ideas but of the People Power Party,” he stressed.

A new rift has opened between the pro-Yoon Suk Yeol faction and supporters of Han within the conservative bloc since last week, after rumors started that the former party interim leader ignored a total of five text messages from first lady Kim Keon Hee ahead of the April 10 general election this year.

The messages sent to Han, who was leading the ruling party into the elections at the time, conveyed Kim's offer to deliver a public apology over her alleged illegal acceptance of a luxury Dior handbag, valued at around 3 million won ($2,200), from a Korean American pastor who videotaped the exchange with a hidden camera in September 2022.

Won is a known close aide of Yoon. Observers say that Han, a former prosecutor who once worked closely alongside then-top prosecutor Yoon in corruption allegations surrounding the two previous conservative administrations of Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak, has drifted apart from the current president.

This marks the second time an apparent rift has occurred between Yoon and Han and their respective supporters within the ruling party.

In January, the presidential office requested Han step down as party interim chief over their differences in handling the first lady's luxury bag scandal and the party’s candidate nominations for the general election. Han rejected the request, but two days afterward appeared with Yoon at the site of the Seocheon Market fire in a sign of attempted reconciliation.