Ahn Cheol-soo Criticism: Why His Circle Faces Daily Scrutiny

In the context of the expulsion of former People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon, who was the one who was most critical of former leader Han and his close circle? Within the party, there is a reaction that says, “He is not a member of the party faction close to leader Jang Dong-hyuk, nor is he an old pro-Yoon faction. It is Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo.”

On the 14th of last month, when the party was shaken by the late-night decision by the Party Audit Committee (Chairman Lee Ho-seon) to expel former leader Han, Rep. Ahn sent a message to former representative Han. “There is still time to resolve the issue,” he wrote on Facebook. “The confusion will be resolved if it is proven that the IP address designated as the public opinion manipulation account and the two IP addresses where posts by five members of former Representative Han’s family were unrelated to former Representative Han.” Previously, former CEO Han’s side claimed, “Most of the posts in question were written by ‘Han Dong-hoon, with the same name,’ but they were manipulated to make it seem as if they were written by a family member,” to which Rep. Ahn suggested proving it with IP.

Regarding this, a first-term lawmaker from the People Power Party said, “On the surface, it was meant to make former Representative Han himself aware of his innocence, but in reality, it seemed like Representative Ahn was refuting former Representative Han’s ‘manipulation theory.’”

Even after the general meeting of lawmakers on the 2nd, where lawmakers fought over the expulsion of former Representative Han, Rep. Ahn posted a post criticizing his close circle. On this day, at a closed-door general meeting, Rep. Jeong Seong-guk, a close associate, and Supreme Council member Jo Kwang-han, who is outside the council, clashed. Afterwards, close circles attacked Commissioner Cho for saying, “Hey man, come out,” while Commissioner Cho’s side engaged in a battle over the truth, saying they heard him say, “How dare you tell a lawmaker.”

However, Rep. Ahn criticized Rep. Jeong in a Facebook post on the 4th, saying, “Gold badges should not be used as passes to the general meeting of lawmakers. There is no reason for the chairman of the party council outside the National Assembly to endure discrimination and rudeness because of whether or not there is a gold badge.” In response, Rep. Chin-gye Han Ji-ah posted a rebuttal on Facebook, saying, “It was portrayed as if the lawmakers ignored the Supreme Council members and exercised a sense of privilege. It’s unfortunate that it obscured the point,” and added, “It’s bittersweet to see where the new politics has gone.”

Rep. Ahn has continued to strongly criticize martial law since the December 3 martial law incident, and also supported the impeachment of former President Yoon Seok-yeol. In terms of admiration (in favor of impeachment) and anti-impeachment (opposition), the results were more similar to those of the pro-party faction, which were more admirable than the mainstream party. However, as Rep. Ahn seems to have made up his mind and sets his sights on his close circles, attention is focused on his intentions both inside and outside the party.

A person close to Rep. Ahn said, “As an IT expert, Rep. Ahn paid attention to the suspicions on the party member bulletin board, which were the root cause of former Representative Han’s expulsion, and suggested IP matching as a way to resolve the situation.” Regarding his criticism of Rep. Chung, he said, “I wrote this because of my belief that politicians outside the National Assembly are valuable assets to the party and that they should not be discriminated against, and it was not a statement conscious of partisanship.”

Some in the party also link Rep. Ahn’s recent actions to future political moves. A first-term lawmaker from the People Power Party analyzed, “Isn’t Rep. Ahn being mentioned both inside and outside the party as a candidate for mayor of Seoul, and even as a candidate for the next party leadership?” and added, “It seems to be an attempt to broaden the support spectrum to include hard-core conservatives in addition to the existing centrist party members who support him.”