[Anchor]

The People Power Party's Central Ethics Committee is set to convene today, July 6. On the agenda is the potential disciplinary action against lawmakers from the pro-Han Dong-hoon faction who supported independent candidate Han Dong-hoon during the June 3 by-elections. Concerns are rising that this could deepen internal strife within the party.

Reporter Park Chan-beom has the story.

[Reporter]

The People Power Party's Central Ethics Committee will discuss today whether to initiate disciplinary procedures against party members who have been reported.

This marks the first time the committee has been reactivated in five months, following its decision to discipline pro-Han Dong-hoon lawmaker Bae Hyun-jin back in February.

[Jang Dong-hyuk / People Power Party Representative (June 26, Maeil Shinmun YouTube 'Lee Dong-jae's News Cabinet'): (Now) I believe it is time to provide an answer, regardless of what the conclusion may be.]

More than 30 incumbent lawmakers have been requested for disciplinary action by figures and supporters aligned with Representative Jang Dong-hyuk's leadership faction.

These individuals are primarily members of the pro-Han faction and lawmakers belonging to the first- and second-term assembly group, 'Alternative and Future.'

In particular, the disciplinary blade is expected to target pro-Han lawmakers who supported candidate Han Dong-hoon when he ran as an independent in the Busan Buk-gap district during the June 3 by-elections.

Within the Ethics Committee, there is a prevailing sentiment that if it is confirmed that these members supported Han instead of the party's official nominee, Park Min-sik, it should be considered an act of "harming the party."

[Jin Jong-oh / People Power Party Lawmaker (April 23, SBS Radio 'Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show'): (People seem to think, "You are going to Busan to support former Representative Han Dong-hoon, right?") Yes, to put it bluntly, that is true.]

The underlying view is that unlike former five-term lawmaker Suh Byung-soo, who left the party, supporting Han while remaining a member of the People Power Party is an issue that cannot be overlooked. As backlash against Representative Jang's reactivation of "disciplinary politics" grows, the party's internal conflict could escalate in earnest.

Senior party members are voicing their concerns.

[Yoon Sang-hyun / People Power Party Lawmaker: What we need is not a competition of disciplinary actions, but a competition of innovation. Politics should be resolved through political means...]

Sharp criticism has also been raised that the "Ethics Committee is acting as a hunting dog to eliminate political rivals on behalf of Representative Jang." However, a key official from the Ethics Committee refuted this to SBS, stating, "We are not hunting dogs, but wolves that grow in the wild," and added that it is an "organization independent from the party leader."

Reported by Park Chan-beom | Video by Shin Dong-hwan | Video Editing by Jeon Min-gyu | Graphics by Jang Chae-woo