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[AI Library] Chapter 4: The Cross Named Betrayer
The Han Dong-hoon Story
Chapter 4: The Cross Named Betrayer
Kim Kyung-jin
The Han Dong-hoon Story
PART 01 The Night He Chose the Nation over Faction · Original Text 04
Once martial law was lifted, the political current surged.
Han Dong-hoon initially tried to avert disaster by proposing an "orderly departure" for the President. He feared that the impeachment trial would fracture public opinion and deepen the chaos.
But when President Yoon made clear in his address to the nation that he had no intention of stepping aside and instead defended the legitimacy of martial law, the situation shifted dramatically.
Han Dong-hoon was engulfed in a torrent of fierce accusations of "traitor" from the conservative base. At the Gwanghwamun Taegeuk flag rallies, his name was torn to shreds. Party message boards were plastered with curses against him. In some regions, voices rose to denounce him. Far-right YouTubers shouted: "Traitor Han Dong-hoon." "A leftist stooge." People who just yesterday had hailed him as the next presidential candidate suddenly hurled stones at him. He was completely isolated within conservative circles.
Han Dong-hoon bore all this criticism with his whole being. He offered no excuses. "If I must be a traitor, then I will be one. But I will be the traitor who saved the nation." He understood.
Had the conservative party defended martial law and opposed impeachment, conservatism would have vanished forever from South Korea's history. The people would never forgive a force that threatened democracy.
By accepting the stigma of "traitor" upon himself, he prevented the ship of conservatism from sinking entirely.
"Had I not stood in the way, the nation would have fallen and conservatism would have been destroyed."
These words were no arrogance. They were an anguished confession that only someone who had gripped a pillar in a burning house and refused to let go could have uttered.
To prove that conservatism's value lay not in defending tyranny but in protecting the Constitution, he walked into the flames himself.
In an interview years later, he spoke about the "traitor" narrative this way.
"In reality, I barely sense the 'traitor' narrative. When I visited Daegu's Seomun Market, the merchants there told me they had suffered massive losses after martial law was declared. The people endured great hardship because of martial law. There is no way this could be dismissed as a 'two-hour incident.'"
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Kim Kyung-jin
Attorney · Former Member of the National Assembly · AI Policy Researcher
© 2026 Kim Kyung-jin. All rights reserved.