All Pro-Han Lawmakers to Skip Han Donghoon's Campaign Office Opening: "Please Send Your Support from Afar"

Han Donghoon Asks Lawmakers Jin Jongoh and Han Jia Not to Attend

Jang Donghyuk’s Warning of Possible Disciplinary Action Leads to Withdrawal

Lawmakers aligned with the pro-Han faction of the People Power Party will not attend the opening ceremony of the campaign office for Han Donghoon, who is running as an independent candidate in the Bukgap, Busan National Assembly by-election.

Independent candidate Han Dong-Hoon, a prospective candidate for the Busan Bukgap parliamentary by-election, registered as a preliminary candidate at the Bukgu Election Commission in Gupo-dong, Busan, on the afternoon of the 4th. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

On May 8, in an interview with MBC Radio, Han stated, "I want the opening ceremony to be a festival for the local residents," and added, "To the lawmakers who expressed their intention to attend, I told them, 'I will convey your regards to the residents of Bukgu-gap, so this time, please just send your support from afar.'"

Initially, within the pro-Han faction, lawmakers such as Jin Jongoh and Han Jia had expressed their intention to attend the opening ceremony to show support for Han's candidacy. However, it is reported that they changed their stance following Han's request.

It appears that Han asked the pro-Han lawmakers not to attend the opening ceremony in an effort to prevent renewed internal conflict within the party ahead of the election. Previously, People Power Party leader Jang Donghyuk had indicated that, since the party had nominated Park Minsik as its candidate for Bukgap, if incumbent lawmakers attended the opening ceremony of Han, who is running as an independent, there could be disciplinary action under party rules for such conduct.

A pro-Han faction official told News1, "During the Daegu events, even when talk of disciplinary action arose, public opinion was strongly against it as there was no justification, but the situation is different now," and explained, "There is talk that attending the opening ceremony could become grounds for disciplinary measures."

Meanwhile, it has been reported that on the same day as Han's campaign office opening, candidate Park will also hold his own opening ceremony. Han pointed out, "It's been quite some time since I announced my opening ceremony, so the fact that even the timing was matched seems to reveal the intention," and added, "It seems they want to show how many lawmakers each candidate can draw."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.