PPP leaders voice frustration over lack of meaningful discussions between Yoon, Han

Leaders of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) voiced frustration Wednesday after a dinner including President Yoon Suk Yeol and PPP leader Han Dong-hoon ended without meaningful discussions despite the need to address pressing issues, such as an ongoing doctors’ walkout and suspicions surrounding first lady Kim Keon Hee.

The dinner was hosted by Yoon at the presidential compound Tuesday with the attendance of Han, floor leader Rep. Choo Kyung-ho and members of the PPP Supreme Council. The event drew attention because it was only the second such gathering since Han’s election as PPP leader in July and had been postponed once following Han’s request to defer the medical school admissions increase for 2026, a proposal the presidential office balked at.

Han had earlier asked for a private meeting with the president during the dinner, apparently to discuss the medical reform and first lady issues, but no such meeting materialized.

“It appears that the presidential office and the party have different perceptions about the situation,” Kim Chong-hyuk, a Supreme Council member, said during a CBS radio interview. “With respect to the medical reform, the party sees it as a very serious situation, whereas the presidential office appears to think it should just be pushed ahead because it’s reform.”

Medical reform has been a centerpiece of the Yoon administration’s agenda. It includes plans to increase the number of medical school students to address a shortage of doctors in the country, but the decision has been met with fierce resistance from sectors of the medical community, with thousands of junior doctors remaining off the job since February.

Kim, the Supreme Council member, also pointed to apparent differences in perceptions about the first lady’s issues, such as her alleged illegal acceptance of a luxury handbag and her alleged involvement in stock manipulation.

“The party believes fundamental measures should be drawn up, whereas the presidential office appears to strongly believe that since these allegations are false, the party should actively step up to fend them off,” he said.

PPP Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun echoed the sentiment, saying Han’s office wanted to discuss pressing state issues during the dinner, while the presidential office likely wanted to share its diplomatic achievements, such as the results of Yoon’s recent trip to the Czech Republic.

“I think the presidential office and the (PPP) chairman’s office are on completely different wavelengths,” Rep. Yoon said during a KBS radio interview.

“For the ruling party, the president is the most important, and only when the party can convey the public sentiment while supporting the government’s diplomatic and economic achievements can the relationship between the party and the government become desirable,” he said.

Several people lamented the lack of a private meeting between Yoon and Han.

PPP Rep. Jang Dong-hyeok, who was present at the dinner, said it was particularly regrettable because the atmosphere of the outdoor dinner with multiple attendees did not allow for a discussion of state issues there.

“The president and the ruling party leader have to meet and hold candid discussions on how to resolve the political situation,” he said during an SBS radio interview.

Kim, the Supreme Council member, said Han arrived at the dinner early likely in the hopes the president would also come early and pull him aside.

When the president left the dinner without seeing him separately, Han went to Hong Chul-ho, senior presidential secretary for political affairs, to ask that a meeting with Yoon be arranged to discuss state affairs, according to Kim.

“If this becomes known later, people could accuse him of spinning the media, so Chairman Han even said he would tell the press,” Kim said.

Han had been considered one of Yoon’s closest confidants, with critics even calling Han an “avatar” of Yoon, but their relationship has soured due mostly to differences over how to handle first lady Kim Keon Hee’s acceptance of the handbag, the medical reform and other sensitive issues.