PPP Ethics Committee Summons Four Non-mainstream Lawmakers for Explanations... "No Disciplinary Review for Lee Jinsuk"

Cho Kyungtae, Kwon Youngjin, Seo Beomsoo, and Jin Jongoh to Provide Explanations
Disciplinary Action and Its Severity May Be Decided as Early as Today
Controversy Over Pro-Mainstream Bias and Selective Discipline
Factional Conflicts Expecte

The Central Ethics Committee of the People Power Party will conduct a clarification procedure on August 18 for four incumbent lawmakers who are not part of the pro-leadership faction. As controversy continues over the neutrality of the Ethics Committee, there are concerns that conflicts between the pro-leadership and non-leadership factions may intensify further, depending on the outcome of possible disciplinary action.

On this day, the party’s Ethics Committee plans to summon Representatives Cho Kyungtae, Kwon Youngjin, Seo Beomsoo, and Jin Jongoh one by one to the party’s central headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, to listen to their statements. Until last week, the committee sent written questionnaires to these lawmakers to confirm the facts and received their responses. Depending on the progress, the committee may decide as early as today whether to impose disciplinary measures and at what level after the face-to-face hearings.

Both inside and outside the party, attention is focused on the severity of the disciplinary action. This is because the lawmakers involved are non-leadership faction members who have consistently opposed Representative Jang Donghyuk’s leadership, and there have been persistent allegations of bias in the composition of the Ethics Committee.

If severe disciplinary action is imposed, the lawmakers involved are expected to strongly protest, raising issues of fairness and legitimacy of the committee’s decision. Representative Cho criticized, "The Ethics Committee has lost its procedural legitimacy from the very beginning," and added, "If the targets, pace, and standards of disciplinary action differ depending on the individual, it is a biased punishment and a political purge."

Lee Jinsuk, a member of the People Power Party, is holding an emergency press conference at the National Assembly Communication Office. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

In particular, the controversy over ‘selective discipline’ is growing, as the party’s response to Assemblywoman Lee Jinsuk—who hosted a forum that sparked criticism for disparaging the May 18 Democratization Movement—has been contrasted with these proceedings. Although Assemblywoman Lee was referred to the Ethics Committee for this controversy, Chief Spokesperson Park Sunghoon stated that “disciplinary action is not under consideration.”

Evaluations of Assemblywoman Lee within the party have also been divided. Representative Sung Iljong said on MBC Radio that “Assemblywoman Lee likely did not intend to undermine the spirit of May 18,” adding, “It happened due to her lack of experience, as she only recently entered the National Assembly.” On the other hand, Representative Cho argued that “Representative Jang, embroiled in allegations of election fraud and conspiracy theories, and Assemblywoman Lee, who insulted the May 18 Gwangju spirit, should both be expelled from the party.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.