The Democratic Party of Korea is escalating its attacks on Han Dong-hoon, an independent lawmaker, over allegations that his daughter padded her academic credentials. The party has abandoned the strategy of ignoring Han's criticism of the government, with the National Assembly standing committee and the party leadership now raising the issue in unison. Within the party, however, some worry that concentrating the resources of a dominant ruling party on a single lawmaker may only raise Han's political standing.
Lawmakers from the ruling bloc on the 12th characterized the police investigation into the allegations involving Han's daughter as inadequate during the National Assembly Public Administration and Security Committee's audit of the Korean National Police Agency, calling for the case to be reopened and for an internal inspection of the officers who handled it. Rep. Yoon Kun-young of the Democratic Party alleged biased handling of the case, saying that "over one year and eight months of investigation, the complainant was summoned six times while the accused was questioned only once, in writing." Rep. Jung Choun-sook of the Rebuilding Korea Party said police at the time halted judicial cooperation out of deference to prosecutorial power.
Police left open the possibility of reopening the case. Kim Jong-cheol, acting commissioner general of the Korean National Police Agency, said, "If new facts come to light, I will not rule out the possibility of a full reinvestigation." Asked about demands for an internal inspection of the investigative team that handled the case, he said he would "review follow-up measures after establishing the facts, including through the Ministry of Justice's audit."
The Democratic Party's offensive continued outside the audit session. Han Min-soo, a member of the party's supreme council, said at a leadership meeting that day, "The prosecution itself blocked a critical juncture in the investigation, so who would believe the outcome was a legitimate investigative result?" Kang Deung-gu, head of the Democratic Research Institute, said of the daughter's volunteer tutoring at a community child center in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province, that she "only did work adjusting and supporting the class schedules of other volunteers, and did so remotely."
Han, who is currently in the United States, pushed back through social media. Calling the Democratic Party's campaign political retaliation, he said the matter was "a case that was cleared of charges even after an investigative review committee was convened twice." In countering the ruling party, he cast the dispute as a standoff between a dominant ruling party and a lone lawmaker.
Observers say the Democratic Party's shift from ignoring Han to going on the offensive reflects a political calculation aimed at blunting the impact of his repeated attacks on the government on public opinion.
Within the party, however, skepticism has emerged over whether the offensive will work. The more the ruling party trains its firepower on a single lawmaker, the more it may hand Han an opportunity to build his political profile. A two-term lawmaker from the Seoul metropolitan area voiced concern, saying, "Do we really need to play along? It could look as if Han is taking on the entire Democratic Party." A first-term lawmaker also said, "When the actual damage we can inflict is limited, waging the fight only in words simply opens the door to a counterattack."