the ‘traitor’ at the heart of South Korea’s impeachment drama

Han Dong-Hoon was driving home from dinner in Seoul on December 3, scanning the radio, when he heard a breaking news update: President Yoon Suk-Yeol was preparing to deliver an emergency address.

Han, then the leader of Yoon’s People Power Party (PPP), was widely seen as one of the presiden’t closest allies. Yet that was Han’s first hint that Yoon was about to do something unprecedented.

By midnight, the president had plunged the country into a political maelstrom, declaring martial law as part of a self-proclaimed bid to eliminate “anti-state forces” and North Korea sympathisers.

“When I first heard the news of martial law, I thought, ‘We must stop it, because if it isn’t lifted that very night, a bloodbath might occur,'” Han tells BBC Korean.

“The fear and terror that South Korea’s decades-long, hard-won achievements might suddenly collapse were overwhelming.”

Soon after Yoon’s announcement, the opposition’s Democratic Party leader hosted a live stream urging people to assemble in protest outside the National Assembly building in central Seoul.

Thousands responded, clashing with police and blocking military units as opposition lawmakers rushed into the assembly building, clambering over fences and walls in a desperate attempt to block Yoon’s order.

Han was among them.

The late-night martial law edict seemed to have come from nowhere. It was, and remains, unclear who in Yoon’s party supported or even knew of the move before it was made. But in the hours that followed, Han would help lead a successful attempt to overturn Yoon’s order and have the declaration lifted.

Weeks later, he would also play a key role in impeaching the disgraced president – a move that would see him branded a “traitor” by mainstream members of the PPP, and ultimately lead to his resignation as party leader.

Han says he has “no regrets” about overturning Yoon’s martial law attempt, insisting that he’d “choose the same again”.

But in many people’s eyes, his subsequent decision to impeach the very president he’d helped get elected was a surprising heel turn for someone formerly viewed as Yoon’s right-hand man.

“We have experienced so much together over many years,” Han says of his relationship with Yoon.

“I find the current situation extremely painful and regretful. Both the president and I worked in good faith for the betterment of our country – yet I must say that I deeply regret how things have turned out.”

For years, Han and Yoon were inseparable allies. Having both attended Seoul National University, the two forged a close bond as prosecutors while jointly investigating corruption in the country’s halls of power.

Han gained political prominence when Yoon was narrowly elected president in May 2022, after beating his opponent by less than 1% of the vote.

Han was made Minister of Justice and later entrusted with the key role of Emergency Countermeasures Committee Chairman for the PPP, becoming the leader of the ruling party at the age of 50.

Yoon’s time in office was beleaguered by scandals and political failures – not least of all his landslide loss to the opposition Democratic Party last April.

The result of those parliamentary elections was widely seen as a vote of no confidence against Yoon, and rendered him a lame-duck president.

For most of Yoon’s administration, the PPP’s conservative base was enthusiastic about Han. The lawyer-turned-politician had quickly emerged as a likely party candidate for the next presidential election, originally scheduled for 2027.

Now, as the increasing likelihood of a 2025 election looms amid the fallout of Yoon’s ill-fated martial law attempt, Han’s reputation is largely defined by the way he acted during and after that fateful night.

While some still see him as a fresh and promising political figure, many view him as having betrayed the very president who had furthered his career.

In the weeks following Yoon’s abortive martial law order, the embattled president curried favour among PPP hardliners by refusing to cede political ground.

While he apologised for the events of December 3, he refused to resign, instead holing up in his official residence in defiance of calls for his impeachment.

He rallied his base and defended his decision by playing on unsubstantiated fears that the country was in danger.

It was these staunch Yoon loyalists who would come to turn against Han.

Despite having rejected Yoon’s martial law declaration on December 3, Han initially opposed the impeachment motion put forth against the president by South Korea’s political opposition – siding with almost every other PPP member in boycotting the first vote on December 7.

Days later, Han changed course. This was after allegations had emerged that during the martial law attempt Yoon had ordered key political figures – including Han – to be arrested. In allegiance with his close political aides, Han threw his full support behind a second and ultimately successful impeachment attempt, ousting Yoon as president.

“I wanted nothing more than for this government to succeed,” Han tells the BBC, reflecting on the storm of condemnation that then followed from within his own party ranks.

“I initially sought an orderly early resignation plan for the president – a plan I earnestly pursued, but which ultimately failed,” he adds.

“I am deeply pained by the outcome and empathise with those who remain unconvinced and heartbroken. Nonetheless, I believe it was a necessary decision for South Korea’s continued progress and development.”

Yoon has been suspended from his presidential duties and is currently under investigation on insurrection charges. Han, meanwhile, stepped down as PPP leader in mid-December, maintaining that although Yoon’s impeachment was painful, he did not regret his decision.

In the two months that followed, Han says he took some time to “quietly reflect” on whether he could have done more during such a turbulent period for South Korea.

“And I wrote a book,” he adds: a memoir, titled “The People Come First”, which chronicles the two weeks following Yoon’s martial law declaration.

It’s no surprise the book has become a bestseller: after all, it claims to be a first-hand account of events that have already gone down as some of the most dramatic in South Korea’s political history. It hit shelves on 26 February, one day after the Constitutional Court held its final hearing on Yoon’s impeachment trial.

It also hints at Han’s future ambitions. Publishing a memoir is seen as a common first step in launching a political campaign in South Korea, and some believe “The People Come First” underscores Han’s hopes to run as the PPP’s presidential candidate, if the court impeaches Yoon and triggers a snap election.

Within the book’s 384 pages, Han also discusses the need for constitutional reform and suggests that if he were to become president, he would change South Korea’s five-year presidential term to four years.

Should he choose to run, the memoir serves to remind South Koreans where he stands on crucial issues – and that he is no longer an ally of a disgraced president.

As it stands, the odds look stacked against him. A recent poll found that Han’s approval rating to become the next president sat at 6% – a fraction of the 22% rating he scored in January 2024. The decline of his political fortunes is compounded by the critics within the PPP, who accuse him of failing to protect both his former party and the president.

But Han plays down the suggestion that his memoir is intended as a political tool.

“I have published a book in which I truthfully express what I experienced and thought during these events,” he tells the BBC. “I am not returning with any specific political manoeuvre, but simply to share that message with you all.”

Another message Han seems eager to share is one of contrition towards the people of South Korea. He doesn’t regret voting to impeach his president and former ally, he insists, but he does regret this.

“Yoon did impose martial law, and I believe that was a wrong act – one that does not align with the principles of liberal democracy,” he says. “As the leader of the ruling party that put that president in office, I want to express my deepest apologies to the people.”

“I am truly sorry that our actions, and the reactions we displayed, hurt the people. I think we must overcome and resolve this crisis.”