Former PPP chief Han cleared of online 'comment team' allegations

Han Dong-hoon, former leader of the conservative People Power Party (PPP) and former Justice Minister, has been cleared of allegations that he operated a so-called “comment team” to sway public opinion during his time as justice minister.

Han Dong-hoon talks in an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo at the presidential candidate's campaign office in the Daehwa Building in Yeouido, western Seoul, on April 27. [KIM KYUNG-ROK]

Han Dong-hoon, former leader of the conservative People Power Party (PPP) and former Justice Minister, has been cleared of allegations that he operated a so-called “comment team” to sway public opinion during his time as justice minister.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency dismissed the case against Han on Oct. 2, citing a lack of evidence, according to police on Monday. The investigation had been ongoing for approximately one year and three months after Han was accused of abuse of power and obstruction of official duties by deception.

"Supportive comments for Han were indeed posted online between May 2022 and December 2024," police said in its official report. "However, only 104 out of the 15,926 comments examined were found to be identical or similar enough to raise suspicion of coordinated activity. This represents only a tiny portion [of all internet comments] and it remains unclear whether a ‘comment team’ existed or whether Justice Ministry officials were involved.”

The allegations center on claims that a dedicated team was managing online posts in favor of Han and countering negative narratives. The claims first surfaced in July last year, when former PPP youth committee member Jang Ye-chan said on MBC Radio that “Han had a team supporting him even when he was justice minister, managing online comments to create favorable public sentiment.”

Later that month, Democratic Party lawmaker Yang Moon-seok said his office had identified 29 accounts suspected of posting around 70,000 comments between May 2022 and July 2023, some of which had matching typos and spacing. Based on these claims, a civic organization filed a criminal complaint with the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials on July 18, 2024. The case was later transferred to the police.

Police said their investigation was hampered by a lack of cooperation from key parties. “We were unable to obtain further materials or testimony from either Jang or Yang’s office,” a police official said. “And we couldn’t determine whether other people had used the accounts, since we lacked identifying information.”

Kim Han-me, head of the civic organization, criticized the decision, calling it a “classic example of a lenient investigation” and noted that Han was never even summoned for questioning. Kim said the group will appeal the dismissal through the police’s investigation review committee.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom. BY KIM JEONG-JAE [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]