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PPP leader Han Dong-hoon (right) speaks at a meeting of the party’s Supreme Council on Nov. 18, 2024. (Kim Gyoung-ho/Hankyoreh)

Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung was sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for two years, on Friday in his first trial on violations of Korea’s election law. The verdict has inspired the People Power Party (PPP) to ramp up their attacks against Lee and the Democratic Party. The PPP needs to stop trying to rake in the indirect benefits of Lee’s sentence while ignoring the public’s demands for a special counsel to investigate the first lady and for reforms within the presidential administration.  

During a meeting of the PPP’s Supreme Council on Monday, party leader Han Dong-hoon said that the verdict against Lee was “a normal result that was to be expected.” He also promised to “give the people what they want by changing, enacting reform and improving the public livelihood.” 

Yet most of Han’s comments on this day were criticisms of Lee and the Democratic Party. He viciously accused the Democratic Party of “demonizing the prosecutors and going even further to demonize judges, which is really ruining the country.” 

Regarding the announcement of a ruling in Lee’s trial on subornation of perjury, slated for Monday, Han proudly said that the restoration of the prosecutors’ investigative authority made the investigation into Lee possible. 

PPP floor leader Choo Kyung-ho characterized the Democratic Party’s recent rallies and protests as providing cover for Lee, saying that they were a “declaration that they will demolish the foundations of rule and law in the Republic of Korea.” 

Some PPP members are calling to establish a separate committee to demand Lee’s immediate resignation. Others are seeking to issue a bill that would provisionally seize the 43.4 billion won (US$31.19 million) in election subsidies the party received. The move would be in preparation for requiring the party to return the subsidies to the National Election Commission.

Lee’s fate in regard to the charges he faces will ultimately be determined by higher courts and in other trials that are currently in progress. The Democratic Party needs to refrain from statements and acts that could be seen as exerting pressure against the judicial branch. 

Yet the PPP is not hiding its intentions to exploit Lee’s verdict as an opportunity to dig itself out of a hole. Allegations that the first lady interfered with party nominations and national governance, made even more apparent by audio recordings of Myung Tae-kyun’s phone conversations, combined with allegations that Yoon personally meddled with party nominations, have brewed a public controversy that had the PPP backed into a corner. The PPP now looks to hide behind Lee’s legal troubles. 

The ruling party is already ignoring the people’s demands for reform within the presidential office. And the concrete improvements that Yoon promised during his address to the nation and press conference are nowhere in sight. The ruling party has ignored the public’s calls for an investigation into Yoon and the first lady, and has chosen to focus on muddying the process by appointing an ineffectual independent inspector general, which makes the whole thing all for show.  

Han vowed to “give the people what they want” on Monday, but he keeps playing dumb when it comes to the special counsel for Kim Keon-hee and the special counsel for the death of a Marine corporal. Without a single genuine reform in sight, the PPP’s vicious political attacks on their political opponents are unsightly. If they think the Democratic Party’s crisis will serve as their opportunity, they are mistaken. Only the approval of the special counsel on Kim Keon-hee will clearly demonstrate to the people that they are sincere about reform.

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]