Alternative and Future Warns "Harsh Disciplinary Action Will Create a Vortex of Division"... Senior Lawmakers Also Voice Concern

"Ethics Committee Disciplinary Action Is Not Helpful Even to Party Leadership"

The Central Ethics Committee of the People Power Party imposed severe disciplinary action on August 20 against non-mainstream lawmakers Cho Kyungtae, Kwon Youngjin, Seo Beomsoo, and Jin Jongo. This move has raised concerns among both reformist and senior members within the party.

Scenes from the People Power Party Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 20th

On August 21, "Alternative and Future," a group of reform-minded lawmakers within the People Power Party, issued a statement. While they said, "We do not oppose referring four fellow lawmakers to the Ethics Committee and the disciplinary action itself," they stressed, "Severe disciplinary measures that effectively end political careers will drive the party into a vortex of division."

"Alternative and Future" stated, "When politics brandishes the sword, even the living are wounded, and politics loses its function. The Ethics Committee’s decision to wield a blade that ends the political life of colleagues who have admitted their mistakes and apologized will end up hurting us all," expressing concern. They further urged, "We call on Representative Jang Donghyuk and the party leadership to make a wise decision."

Senior party members from the party's old mainstream also voiced their concerns. Assemblywoman Na Kyungwon commented on her social media platform, "This Ethics Committee disciplinary measure is not helpful to the leadership either. To punish one in order to warn a hundred is to set an example; but to punish a hundred is not a warning to the community, but a harm." She continued, "There are still resolutions by the Supreme Council and an appeals process remaining. I hope these processes will adjust things in a way that benefits the party as a whole."

Assemblyman Kim Kimoon stated, "If party discipline is established not on the basis of respected leadership, but through force, we end up with a house of cards. We must not follow in the footsteps of the Lee Jaemyung administration's reign of fear." Assemblyman Yoon Sanghyun urged, "I earnestly ask Representative Jang and the party leadership to reconsider this severe disciplinary measure, and to do so within the bounds of common sense."

Assemblyman Kwon Youngse said on CBS's 'Park Sungtae's News Show', "It would be better if the disciplinary measure were symbolic, lasting about six months, rather than done in this way, which I think is excessive." Supreme Council member Kim Jaewon, while being cautious about commenting on the Ethics Committee issue during his appearance on SBS's 'Kim Taehyun's Political Show', still remarked, "I have always thought that excessive disciplinary action is not desirable."

Lawmakers close to Han Donghoon also added their criticisms. Assemblyman Park Junghoon posted on social media, repeatedly using words such as "pathetic," "shameless," and "incompetent" to describe Representative Jang, and added, "Even putting all these words together, I still feel they are not enough to fully capture what kind of person he is." Assemblyman Ko Dongjin remarked, "What Representative Jang should be doing now is not eliminating the non-mainstream faction, but uniting the party above all else."

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