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President Yoon Suk Yeol (center) walks with People Power Party leadership, including Chair Han Dong-hoon (front left) |
President Yoon Suk Yeol and ruling People Power Party Chair Han Dong-hoon might hold talks after the Oct. 16 by-election next week, according to the presidential office on Thursday.
The Yoon administration and the ruling party "are communicating with each other over the matter," a source at the presidential office said on condition of anonymity.
Also, the presidential office is reportedly open to a one-on-one meeting with Han, a format Yoon has long disapproved of. The meeting would occur after the by-elections scheduled on Wednesday where those eligible will vote to elect the superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education; the Geumjeong-gu Office head in Busan; the heads of Gokseong-gun and Yeonggwang-gun in South Jeolla Province and the Ganghwa-gun head in Incheon. The comment came amid calls from conservatives on South Korea's leader to mend fences with his confidante-turned-dissenting ruling party chief despite persisting differences particularly amid the continuing controversies surrounding Yoon's wife.
Yoon and Han last met at a group dinner meeting, involving Yoon's aides and the People Power Party's newly-elected leaders.
Han did not show up when Yoon on Sunday departed South Korea for his ongoing weeklong trip to Southeast Asia. Han cited prescheduled election campaigning for the by-election in Busan.
Controversies surrounding Yoon's wife Kim Keon Hee will likely top the agenda, should the meeting take place, according to reports.
Opposition parties have consistently ramped up calls for a special counsel probe into Kim's numerous allegations, such as her alleged involvement in a stock manipulation crime in the early 2010s, antigraft law violations surrounding her receipt of a luxury Dior bag caught on hidden camera, and most recently, suspicions that Kim might have meddled in the ruling party's individual electorate candidate nomination process for the April 10 election.
On Wednesday, when asked whether Han agrees to the notion that Kim should refrain from making public appearances, Han said, "I think it's necessary." This resonated with Park Sang-soo, spokesperson of the People Power Party, who said in a radio interview on the same day that Kim's public appearances could "pile pressure on the affairs of the party and the administration," given the negative public sentiment on Kim.
Fissures within the ruling bloc have multiplied. Not all of the People Power Party's members voted against the special counsel bill to probe Kim in the revote session on Oct. 4 at the National Assembly.
Although Rep. Choo Kyung-ho, floor leader of the People Power Party, vowed to have its party members unite to vote against the bill, the actual number of votes against the bill amounted to 104, fewer than all 108 People Power Party lawmakers in the 300-seat National Assembly. A revote with 200 votes in favor can override Yoon's veto on any specific bill.
Yoon and Han have also been at odds over other issues, such as the Yoon administration's push to increase the number of doctors by raising the medical school admissions quota by 2,000 despite doctors' fierce opposition. Han has called on the Yoon administration to slow down the pace of the quota hike plan, which the administration has refused to do.
Yoon and Han previously worked together as public prosecutors for about two decades. Yoon, the former prosecutor general and Han's boss, first entered politics and declared his presidential bid in June 2021.
Han, former justice minister for the Yoon administration, also first entered politics by assuming the People Power Party interim chair post in December. Conflicts within the ruling bloc have erupted as campaigning for the April 10 general election proceeded, in particular surrounding the first lady's scandals, a senior presidential secretary's controversial remarks on press freedom and the Gwangju Democratic Uprising, and alleged government interference in an internal probe into the death of a Marine conscript, among others. Han stepped down from the post after the party's general election defeat, but returned to the post via a victory at the July ruling party convention.
