[News Focus] As ruling party seeks new leader, will Han Dong-hoon enter fray?

Han Dong-hoon, who led the ruling People Power Party through the April election for the National Assembly, is rumored to be entering the race to be the next leader of the party, according to reports Thursday.

Han, who was justice minister until December and was considered to be a close ally of President Yoon Suk Yeol, helmed the ruling party as an interim leader for the final three months of the Assembly election season.

He stepped down to take responsibility for the ruling party’s crushing defeat in the election, which saw the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea keep majority control of the Assembly with 171 of the legislature’s 300 seats.

Han’s bid to claim the party’s top leadership post would likely put Yoon and his office on edge, observers say.

Before setting foot in politics, the former justice minister had a reputation for being close to the president, as the two had jointly led high-profile corruption investigations of Cho Kuk -- who was justice minister for the former Democratic Party President Moon Jae-in -- and other political bigwigs while they were prosecutors.

That changed over the course of the Assembly election when the behind-the-scenes power struggle at the ruling party between the presidential office and the interim leader came under the spotlight.

The clash became more apparent during primaries as a party faction close to Yoon tried to gain nominations for their preferred candidates while Han resisted, the rest of the party rallying behind him.

After the election defeat, the pro-Yoon faction is losing ground as other groupings rise. Some of the most prominent names other than Han being floated to run for the party’s next leader are those who have openly confronted the president.

The ruling party’s national convention for picking the new leadership is set to take place in July.