The People Power Party's presidential primary race has passed its midpoint, intensifying the negative warfare among candidates. The atmosphere is heating up as they bring up personal attacks on the appearance of rival candidates and past allegations.
Han Dong-hoon, a candidate in the People Power Party's presidential primary, explained on the 21st during YTN Radio's "News Fighting, I'm Kim Young-soo" that his short political experience could actually be an advantage, saying, "Unlike others, I have no experience of leaving the party, and I have never brought special operation expenses home," and added, "I don't believe such experiences are necessary."
Han's mention of "leaving the party" and "special operation expenses" seems aimed at candidate Hong Joon-pyo. Hong lost the nomination in the People Power Party (the predecessor of the current party) ahead of the 21st National Assembly elections in March 2020, left the party, ran as an independent, and was elected. He later returned to the People Power Party in June 2021. Additionally, Hong raised suspicions of misappropriation of public funds after posting on his Facebook on May 11, 2015, that when he was the ruling party's floor leader in 2008, he received between 40 million won and 50 million won each month as budget for the National Assembly and used the leftover money for household expenses.
Han criticized Hong's remarks from the previous day (20th) during the primary candidate debate, where Hong referred to the 12·3 state of emergency as "a two-hour happening." Han asked, "Who would think that there was no damage during a happening when the situation for self-employed people and merchants is worse than during COVID?" He also mentioned, "Those who spoke boldly about the state of emergency and impeachment actually fled yesterday. Is it possible to flee in the main election?"
Hong targeted Han during a press meeting that day, stating, "If you only focus on image politics, you won't last long." He noted, "How offensive would it feel if I told you not to do image politics? That's why I spoke indirectly," adding, "If I said it indirectly and it was considered a B-grade question, then the camp itself is a ‘B-grade camp.’" This response came after questions related to appearance became a controversy during the previous day's debate. During that debate, Hong asked Han, "You're tall, so why are you wearing height-increasing shoes?" and questioned whether Han's hair was natural or if he was using "corrective underwear" in connection to the youth communication platform for Hong's supporters.
The rivalry between candidates Na Kyung-won and Ahn Cheol-soo is also heating up. Ahn harshly criticized the B-group primary debate on his Facebook the previous day, stating it was a "historic self-destructive debate," describing comments that sounded reminiscent of a return to the 1980s "military regime's Democratic Justice Party era". In response, Na retorted, "Stop laying eggs in someone else's nest like a cuckoo, and rather leave the party to create the Ahn Cheol-soo Party." Ahn countered, "Our party's name is not ‘the power of the people’ but ‘People Power Party,’" adding, "Even if you’re hungry for power within the party, you need to know our party's name correctly." Ahn continued the rivalry by posting on his Facebook that day, “Is this a party leader election? Get your mind together!”
Meanwhile, the People Power Party will initiate a survey to narrow down four candidates who pass the first primary from today until the 22nd. The results are expected to be announced around 7 p.m. on the 22nd.