Continuing with our series on the state of domestic politics in South Korea following the April 10 elections let us talk about what has been happening in the conservative camp.

First reshufflings

As Hong Joon-pyo wrote in a Facebook* post, Han “acted like he was Yoon’s direct heir” but “was dumped after arrogantly defying his master.”

Han, as was expected of him, humbly resigned in May 2024 and Hwang Woo-yeo, the chairman of the Saenuri Party (as the Conservative party was known at the time) from 2012 to 2014, was appointed head of the interim emergency leadership committee. Hwang had also served as prime minister and education minister under former President Park Geun-hye. The other members of the committee were also supporters of Yoon.

The reshuffle has also affected the government: on April 23, South Korea’s president made a number of important appointments, most notably naming lawmaker Jeong Jin-seok as his chief of staff. Jeong has been elected to the National Assembly five times, having served as its Deputy Speaker and as political secretary in President Lee Myung-bak’s administration, and is considered a loyal supporter of the President. At the time of his appointment, Jeong was head of the ruling party’s parliamentary faction, and was succeeded in this position by Choo Kyung-ho, who is seen as a supporter of the President and had previously served in the government.

In addition, Yoon Suk-yeol restored the position of Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs and appointed Kim Joo-hyun, who served as Deputy Minister of Justice in 2015, to this post.

Election of a new party leader and the return of Han Dong-hoon

The Conservatives, like the Democrats, began preparing for a party convention to elect a party leader, which was scheduled for July 23. In preparation for this event the People Power Party has decided to revise its voting rules to take into account public opinion polls. More specifically, 80% of the vote will remain with party members, and 20% will reflect a broader view. In a way, this represents a return to its previous rules, in which 30% of the votes for choice of party chairman were based on public opinion........

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