Can Han Dong-hoon, who is ‘close to the president’, risk running for office in a difficult field?

Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon, who attended the ‘2023 Korea Population Forum’ held at the COEX Grand Ballroom in Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the morning of the 20th, is holding a ceremony to ‘overcome the population crisis’. Reporter Hwang Jin-hwan

As key cabinet staff members of the Yoon Seok-yeol government move to run in next year’s general election, it is causing a stir in the ruling party’s preparedness.

Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon, who had maintained ambiguity about whether he would run for office, appears to have turned toward running for office after his visit to Daegu last weekend. It is reported that Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Won Hee-ryong and other ministers are expected to formalize their intention to run by the end of the year.

The point of greatest interest is the region in which they are running.

In the People Power Party, the Inyohan Innovation Committee has already announced a policy of allowing ‘people close to the president’ to run for office in difficult districts and not giving preferential treatment to former presidential staff members. This logic is expected to apply to cabinet staff who wish to run for office.

If so, the so-called ‘key ministers’, including Minister Han, will have their political power tested upon their debut. This is because it is difficult to run for office in the Yeongnam area or Gangnam, Seoul, which are home turf, while going to a rough area in the metropolitan area puts you in a dilemmatic situation where your chances of survival are lowered.

According to the CBS Nocut News coverage on the 20th, Minister Han’s candidacy for the general election appears to be a fait accompli, starting with the so-called ‘Dongdaegu Station Fan Meeting’. On the 17th, Minister Han visited Daegu on an official Ministry of Justice schedule, but citizens flocked in, so he canceled his train ticket and took pictures for three hours. Minister Han is visiting Daejeon and Ulsan one after another this week as part of the Ministry of Justice schedule, and is attracting attention as it is being interpreted as a political move.

Opinions on Minister Han’s role are also divided. While there is an expectation that a symbolic run in a rough area should give a boost to the metropolitan area elections, there are also voices saying that in order to serve as a ‘signboard’ to travel around the country to support the election, it is necessary to run for proportional representation in the Gangnam area or Daegu, which are ‘home gardens’ rather than battlegrounds. It comes out.

Won Hee-ryong, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Reporter Changwon Yoon

Attention is also drawn to the movements of Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Won Hee-ryong. In the political world, considering Minister Won’s political experience, various candidates are being discussed, including Gyeyang, Incheon, where Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is located, and Goyang, Gyeonggi Province.

However, in a situation where it is unclear whether Representative Lee will run for re-election in Incheon or whether he will take other chances, such as proportional representation, Minister Won’s remarks are interpreted as a principled statement that does not take into account variables. It is a declaration that “I will fight the most difficult opponent without expecting any benefits.”

Minister of Patriots and Veterans Affairs Park Min-sik (Bundang, Seongnam), Deputy Prime Minister Chu Kyung-ho (Daegu and Dalseong), Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Jeong Hwang-geun (Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province), and Minister of Oceans and Fisheries Cho Seung-hwan (Busan) are also expected to run. According to the Public Official Election Act, public officials who wish to run in next year’s general election must resign before January 11, 90 days before the election.

The key is the possibility that their candidacy will conflict with the innovation plan put forward by the Inyo Innovation Committee.

People Power Party Innovation Committee Chairman In Yo-han. Reporter Hwang Jin-hwan

Chairman In continued to pressure the leadership and senior and pro-Yoon lawmakers not to run for office or to run in difficult districts, sparking rumors of conflict with the leadership. In a media interview the day before, the sacrifices of ‘Yeongnam stars’, ‘competitive people’, and ‘people close to the president’ were mentioned again, and former cabinet members, including Minister Han and Minister Won, were compared to those in the party in terms of competitiveness and closeness to the president. The assessment is that they are ‘eligible candidates for running in difficult areas’ that are difficult to compare.

Therefore, some say that Minister Han’s candidacy in Gangnam and Daegu, or that some ministers can run for TK and PK, are in direct contradiction to Chairman In’s innovation plan. This is because the atmosphere of the State Council members’ ‘home garden’ may be contradictory in a situation where the Innovation Committee has excluded even staff from Yongsan from strategic nomination with ‘Innovation Plan No. 4’.

Chairman In met with reporters that day and said that he welcomed Minister Han’s candidacy, but emphasized fair competition, saying, “The primary must be like the CSAT to be competitive.” Shin-Hwan Shin, a member of the Innovation Committee, also urged Minister Han to run in a difficult region, saying on YTN radio, “Because we have public support and recognition, it will be helpful if we lead to victory while making sacrifices in difficult regions.”

A party official said, “As Minister Han does not have a traditional organization or political experience, it is risky for him to lead the entire election as the chairman of the campaign committee,” and added, “If Minister Han’s constituency is south of the Han River, the meaning of his candidacy will fade. “It is,” he said. However, another official said, “In the case of a minister’s card, whether it is an assassin nomination or proportional representation, ambiguity must be maintained by looking at the number of the other party until just before the final decision,” and “The overall range of maneuver has been narrowed due to the innovation plan.”