The People Power Party's Central Ethics Committee decided Thursday to suspend the party membership of four sitting lawmakers: six-term Rep. Jo Gyeong-tae (from left), two-term Rep. Kwon Young-jin, Rep. Seo Beom-su and first-term Rep. Jin Jong-oh. Three of them — Jo (two and a half years), Jin (two years) and Kwon (one and a half years) — received penalties that in effect bar them from running as PPP candidates in the April 2028 general election, now about one year and eight months away. Seo received a 10-month suspension. [Yonhap]
The People Power Party's Central Ethics Committee decided Thursday to suspend the party membership of four sitting lawmakers: six-term Rep. Jo Gyeong-tae (from left), two-term Rep. Kwon Young-jin, Rep. Seo Beom-su and first-term Rep. Jin Jong-oh. Three of them — Jo (two and a half years), Jin (two years) and Kwon (one and a half years) — received penalties that in effect bar them from running as PPP candidates in the April 2028 general election, now about one year and eight months away. Seo received a 10-month suspension. [Yonhap]

Tensions within the People Power Party have reached a boiling point following the Central Ethics Committee's decision to impose heavy disciplinary penalties on four sitting lawmakers, with the possibility of legal battles over the sanctions now being raised.

According to the PPP, the Central Ethics Committee decided Thursday to suspend the party membership of Reps. Jo Gyeong-tae, Kwon Young-jin, Seo Beom-su and Jin Jong-oh.

Jo received the harshest penalty at two and a half years, followed by Jin at two years and Kwon at one and a half years. Seo was handed a 10-month suspension. Jo, Jin and Kwon will lose their party membership for an extended period with the April 2028 general election roughly one year and eight months away — a heavy sanction that could substantially affect their prospects in the candidate nomination process.

Jo was referred to the committee on allegations that he urged lawmakers from another party to block PPP member Rep. Park Deok-heum from being elected as the National Assembly's vice speaker, a seat reserved for the opposition. Kwon drew scrutiny after he grabbed the collars of both a current and a former floor leader while protesting his committee assignment in the second half of the Assembly session.

Seo and Jin were disciplined for making inappropriate remarks at an Assembly forum that had invited the victim of the so-called Busan kick assault case. Jin's penalty also covered his support for independent candidate Han Dong-hoon in the June 3 Busan Buk-gap by-election.

The severity of the penalties — higher than many had anticipated — has deepened rifts within the party. The sanctioned lawmakers and figures outside the ruling faction accused the committee of using discipline to eliminate political rivals. Kwon wrote on Facebook that the penalties amounted to "the harshest political punishment possible short of expulsion or a recommendation to leave the party," adding that "the ethics committee proved once again to be the faithful hunting dog of Jang Dong-hyeok's ruling faction."

Senior lawmaker Yun Sang-hyeon urged the party leadership to change course, saying "what we need now is unity, not exclusion — tolerance, not hardline measures." Independent Rep. Han Dong-hoon took aim at PPP Chairman Jang, saying "selective and arbitrary disciplinary politics aimed at turning a public party into a private one continues," and warning that the party "will be abandoned by the people."

Others defended the committee's decisions. A senior PPP lawmaker from the Yeongnam region called the penalties "a natural response to those who brought chaos to the party," stressing that "appropriate discipline is necessary to restore party order."

The dispute could spill into the courts. Options being discussed include the affected lawmakers filing for an injunction to suspend the penalties. In March, Rep. Bae Hyun-jin filed for just such an injunction against her one-year membership suspension and had it granted.


mp1256@heraldcorp.com