The People Power Party's Central Ethics Committee has announced its disciplinary decisions against four incumbent lawmakers.

In a press release issued this evening (August 20), the ethics committee announced that it has suspended the party membership of lawmaker Cho Kyung-tae for two and a half years, lawmaker Jin Jong-oh for two years, lawmaker Kwon Young-jin for one year and six months, and lawmaker Seo Bum-soo for 10 months.

Regarding lawmaker Cho, the committee stated that following his defeat to lawmaker Park Duk-hm in the intra-party primary held last May to select the party's candidate for National Assembly Vice Speaker, he asked lawmakers from other parties to vote against lawmaker Park. The committee judged this to be an act contrary to the party line and damaging to the party's order.

As for lawmaker Jin, the committee deemed his campaigning for and support of independent candidate Han Dong-hoon in the June 3 Busan Buk-gap by-election as acts detrimental to the party.

Regarding lawmaker Kwon, the committee determined that his physical actions last month—such as grabbing floor leader Chung Jeom-sik by the collar and shouting—constituted behavior that undermined his dignity as a member of the National Assembly.

As for lawmaker Seo, the committee found that his remark, "Let's do a roundhouse kick," during a seminar held on August 4 to discuss the problems of abolishing supplementary investigation powers was an inappropriate statement that could be seen as making light of the suffering of the victim in the Busan roundhouse kick assault case.

(Photo: Yonhap News)