People Power Party Ethics Committee Begins Disciplinary Review; Internal Caution Over Punishing Incumbent Lawmakers

▲ People Power Party Representative Jang Dong-hyuk attends a Supreme Council meeting at the National Assembly on July 6.

The Central Ethics Committee of the People Power Party held a closed-door plenary meeting at the party headquarters in Yeouido this afternoon (July 6) and began reviewing disciplinary actions against lawmakers who supported independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon during the local elections.

This meeting, the first to be held since the June 3 local elections, was convened to review requests for disciplinary action submitted by party members and to select the subjects for potential sanctions.

It is reported that dozens of disciplinary requests have been filed, targeting not only lawmakers who assisted Han during the parliamentary by-elections held alongside the June 3 local elections but also members of the reform-oriented group "Alternatives and Future," who have publicly called for the resignation of Representative Jang Dong-hyuk.

The party leadership reportedly views the support provided by some lawmakers to the independent candidate Han, despite the party having nominated former Minister of Patriots and Veterans Affairs Park Min-shik for the Busan Buk-gap by-election, as a clear act of harming the party.

However, it is understood that today's meeting was intended to narrow down the list of those subject to discipline and to determine whether there were any violations of the party constitution and regulations, and that no immediate results would be announced.

Within the party, there has been much discussion regarding Representative Jang's resumption of "disciplinary politics."

Supreme Council member Kim Jae-won, a member of the leadership, appeared on BBS Radio and expressed concern, stating, "I hope the Ethics Committee will proceed with caution, keeping in mind that their disciplinary decisions could be subject to judicial review." He added, "The ultimate goal of disciplinary action is to maintain order within the party, but if it instead causes confusion and invites public criticism, that goal cannot be achieved."

Representative Choi Hyung-du, a two-term lawmaker from South Gyeongsang Province and a member of Alternatives and Future, questioned in a KBS Radio interview, "A significant number of our party members voted for independent candidate Han Dong-hoon regardless of the party's official nomination, which is why candidate Han was elected. If that is the case, what will you do about the party members who voted for him?"

On the other hand, first-term lawmaker Lee Jin-sook from Daegu said on a Channel A YouTube channel, "Now that the local elections are over, it is time to handle matters that have been put on hold," adding, "If we move past these issues without addressing them, will it not result in the party's discipline and principles being ignored?"

Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon, addressing the fact that lawmakers close to him are at the center of the controversy, remarked to reporters, "It seems less about targeting pro-Han (pro-Han Dong-hoon) lawmakers and more about targeting everyone who is anti-Jang (anti-Jang Dong-hyuk)."

(Photo: Yonhap News)

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