PPP’s national convention descending into chaos, with violence among supporters of candidates for party leader election

From left, a supporter of candidate Won Hee-ryong is being stopped when he tries to throw away a chair to rival Han Dong-hoon, shouting \

The national convention of the ruling People’s Power Party (PPP) is descending into chaos, with violence among supporters of candidates for the party leader election. On July 16, candidates Han Dong-hoon and Won Hee-ryong criticized their opponents and requested the party's election committee to go through fact-finding and investigate the incidents. There were also voices within the party saying, "It’s shameful."

The clash between the candidates took place at a joint speech of the Chungcheong region held in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, on July 15. During Han's speech, Won's supporters repeatedly shouted “traitor,” and Han's supporters clashed in protest. One supporter was stopped when he tried to throw away a plastic chair. A YouTube channel also posted a video of two burly men throwing fists and engaging in a violent physical fight outside the event hall.

The party's election committee sent out an official letter to all candidate camps on the same day, asking for special attention to their supporters. The election commission also sent an official letter to the Cheonan Seobuk Police Station in South Chungcheong Province to investigate the violence. The party will ban those who caused a disturbance from entering the next joint speech venue.

The candidates criticized their rivals over the violence that erupted the day before. “I didn't realize it while I was speaking, but when I saw it later, I realized that they had planned it,” said Han on Channel A's YouTube channel, adding, ”That's how the Won’s supporters disrupted my speech.”

Han's camp has asked the party's election committee to investigate the incident. "The person who participated in the physical clash is known to be a member of the Liberty Unification Party," said Chung Kwang-jae, a spokesman for Han’s camp. "It is a very serious matter if a member of another party entered the venue with a ticket provided by another candidate’s camp to attack Han."

"A person who appears to have been accompanied by Han even assaulted the rival’s supporters en masse," Won's camp said in a press release. "Han is indiscriminately spreading false information as if it is Won's responsibility. We urge the party's election committee to immediately investigate the incident.

In a press release, Won's camp said, “The person who is believed to have been accompanying Han has also been involved in mass assaults on supporters of the other candidate,” adding, “One candidate's camp is indiscriminately spreading falsehoods as if Won's camp is responsible. We call on the party's election committee to investigate immediately.”

It has been continuously pointed out that the PPP’s national convention has turned into a mud-slinging power struggle, not a process of establishing a new leadership. The debate over First Lady Kim Keon-hee's text messages centered on whether or not she “intervened in party affairs,” rather than whether or not Han “read them and didn't respond.” President Yoon Suk-yeol and his wife, Han, and Won all came under fire, leading to the party’s internal evaluation of "self-harm."

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.