The Traces Han Dong-hoon Left on South Korea

The Struggle of 1 Against 180: Han Dong-hoon's Years in Parliament

I Will Risk Everything: Han Dong-hoon Wins the Battle of 1 Against 180

1 Cheongdam-dong and One Sentence

In October 2022, at a National Assembly audit. Representative Kim Ui-gyeom of the Democratic Party of Korea leveled allegations against Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon. The claim was that President Yoon Suk-yeol and Han Dong-hoon had attended a drinking gathering with thirty lawyers at a bar in Cheongdam-dong. A YouTube channel released an audio file claiming it was a recording, and the opposition party launched a fierce attack, comparing it to a "second state administration scandal."

Han Dong-hoon said this at that moment: "If I had been at that gathering, or at a similar gathering, or anywhere within a kilometer of it, I would risk everything - including my position as Justice Minister - and any public office I might hold in the future."

"I will risk everything." He had wagered his entire public career. It was not a vague denial or a cautious hedge. It was a single sentence that put his very existence on the line, declaring that he would forfeit everything if he had lied.

What happened next? The cellist himself appeared before police and confessed that it had all been false. Han Dong-hoon said, "When the tide goes out, you can tell who was swimming naked," demanding that the opposition lawmakers who had stirred up the allegations apologize. In court, the cellist testified as a witness, saying, "I have never seen those people in my life."

This episode matters because it reveals Han Dong-hoon's style of fighting. He does not hold back. He puts himself on the line as the stakes and demands that his opponent do the same. His stance found its most dramatic expression in the vote on the arrest warrant motion for Lee Jae-myung.

2 The First Attempt: February 2023, Defeated

February 27, 2023. A vote on an arrest warrant motion for Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the main opposition party, took place in the National Assembly plenary hall. It was unprecedented in constitutional history. The very act of the National Assembly voting on an arrest warrant for the sitting leader of the main opposition party was an event without precedent.

Han Dong-hoon, in his capacity as Justice Minister, took the podium in the National Assembly plenary hall. It was to explain the reasons for the arrest warrant request. The core allegations included irregularities in the development of Wirye and Daejanmyeon-dong, and suspicions regarding sponsorship of Seongnam FC.

But the result was defeat. 138 votes in favor, 138 against, 11 invalid, 9 abstentions. With the votes split evenly and invalid ballots and abstentions combined, it fell short of a majority. The Democratic Party with 168 seats had essentially defeated it as party policy. Criticism of a "body-guard parliament" poured in, but faced with the numbers, Han Dong-hoon had no choice but to withdraw.

Normally, it would have ended there. Bringing up an arrest warrant motion again after it was defeated once carries enormous political risk. If it failed again, the prosecution's credibility would crumble and the Justice Minister's political viability would be damaged.

Han Dong-hoon did not stop.

3 Seven Months of Preparation and a Second Challenge

On September 18, 2023, the prosecution requested an arrest warrant again against Lee Jae-myung. This time, allegations of special favors in the development of Baekhy­eon-dong, illegal fund transfers to North Korea, and perjury instigation were added. Over seven months, Han Dong-hoon had urged the investigation team and strengthened the evidence.

On September 21, 2023, the second arrest warrant motion vote took place.

Han Dong-hoon took the podium in the National Assembly plenary hall again. This time was different. For thirty minutes, he laid out Lee Jae-myung's alleged crimes one by one.

"Representative Lee Jae-myung is at the apex of large-scale corruption, and without him, the crimes of the practical workers already in custody make no sense structurally."

Then he recalled a promise Lee Jae-myung himself had made in the National Assembly three months earlier. "Three months ago, on June 19th, Representative Lee Jae-myung stood in this very spot and voluntarily promised the people that he would waive his immunity from arrest regarding political investigations into him." He added: "No one forced that promise. He himself explicitly pledged not to attach conditions about lawful investigations or anything else - there is no room for other interpretation. Now is the time to keep the promise made to the sovereign people."

He had bound Lee Jae-myung with Lee Jae-myung's own words.

4 Thirty Minutes in the Plenary Hall

Throughout the thirty minutes Han Dong-hoon stood at the podium, fierce shouts and protests from the opposition benches never ceased.

"Make it brief," "Why do you keep disclosing things like this," "Why are you being so detailed," "Get down from there," "Stop," "Prosecutor Han Dong-hoon," "This is parliament, not a courtroom." The opposition lawmakers' shouts poured down relentlessly.

The Speaker of the National Assembly requested that he summarize and explain several times over. The opposition demanded he stop speaking, claiming it was a public disclosure of suspected criminal conduct.

Han Dong-hoon did not stop. "Because Representative Lee and the Democratic Party lawmakers are arguing that this matter has no evidence, I have a duty to explain it before the people. I will fulfill that duty."

A massive opposition with 180 seats had formed a wall. In the midst of shouting, jeering, and protest, one person stood at the podium and continued speaking. One against 180. Those thirty minutes made this dynamic most starkly visible.

5 149 Votes: The Drama of a Single Vote's Difference

The vote result was: of 295 members present, 149 in favor, 136 against, 6 abstentions, 4 invalid. It passed.

The threshold for passage is a simple majority of those present, which is 148 votes. 149 was exactly 1 vote above the passage line. Two fewer votes would have meant defeat.

The meaning of this number must be examined. The People Power Party held 111 seats. Even combining pro-government independents and the Justice Party, the total was only 121 seats. For 149 votes to be cast, a minimum of 28 members had to break ranks from the Democratic Party. Analysis showed that at least 21 votes for passage came from the Democratic Party. (29 defections including independents)

The passage of an arrest warrant motion for the leader of the largest party holding a majority of seats was unexpected. It was the first time in constitutional history. Within the Democratic Party itself, doubts had spread about Lee Jae-myung's breaking of his promise to waive immunity and the sincerity of his hunger strike. The thirty-minute explanation Han Dong-hoon poured out from the National Assembly podium, that explanation continued despite the shouting, played a decisive role in producing defections from the Democratic Party.

From 138 votes in February to 149 in September. In seven months, the supporting votes increased by 11. That difference of 11 votes was what separated defeat from passage.

6 What Came After

After the arrest warrant motion passed, Lee Jae-myung attended a substantive warrant review in court. However, the court rejected the arrest warrant. The motion had passed, but it did not result in arrest.

After the warrant was rejected, Han Dong-hoon said, "I believe the prosecution will continue its investigation without wavering," and stated, "21 people have already been arrested in connection with this matter. This is not an overreaching investigation."

One could view it as failure since the warrant was rejected. But in a broader context, the story is different. The passage of an arrest warrant motion against the leader of a massive opposition party holding 168 seats in the National Assembly itself was unprecedented. The fact that 29 defection votes came from within the opposition party marked the first time that dissatisfaction within the party over Lee Jae-myung was revealed through voting.

Through this process, Han Dong-hoon established his brand. A person who does not back down before the wall of a massive opposition. A person who does not leave the podium even in the face of shouting. A person who puts himself on the line to fight. The sentence "I will risk everything" originated as a rebuttal to the allegations about the Cheongdam-dong drinking gathering, yet it became the sentence that defined his political identity.

He does not back down before the powerful. Even when the numbers work against him, he does not abandon principle. When he fails once, he prepares more thoroughly and tries again. What Han Dong-hoon showed in the battle of one against 180 was precisely that.