People Power Party lawmaker Kwon Young-jin [Provided by Kwon's office]
People Power Party lawmaker Kwon Young-jin [Provided by Kwon's office]

People Power Party lawmaker Kwon Young-jin said Tuesday that the party ethics committee's decision to suspend his membership for 18 months was excessive and unduly harsh.

Speaking on KBS Radio 1's "Jeongyeok Sisa" that day, Kwon said a suspension of 18 months or longer effectively strips a politician of the right to seek a party nomination. "Telling a politician they cannot seek a nomination is telling them to quit politics," he said. "The question is whether what we did warrants a punishment severe enough to end a political career. From that perspective, there is no avoiding the criticism that this is a purge of forces opposed to Party Chairman Jang Dong-hyeok."

Kwon said he believed the ethics committee's ruling could sow division in the party's fight against the ruling bloc. "Disciplining members this way does nothing to achieve the stated purpose of discipline — strengthening party unity and rallying everyone together," he said. "Since the ruling, our party has been sliding into fresh conflict and division. We need to be fighting the government, but our battle lines are falling apart."

Kwon said he was now considering legal action, stepping back from his earlier position that he would humbly accept the ethics committee's decision.

"Many of my local party members and acquaintances are telling me, 'Why would you accept such an unjust and absurd punishment? Fight back,'" he said. "If legal action is a meaningful way to stand up against disciplinary politics that is destroying the party, then it is not just a personal matter — it is something I need to seriously consider."

"Does my political career have any meaning as long as Chairman Jang's leadership continues?" Kwon said. "Does our party — does conservatism — have a future? I cannot live by staying silent and playing it safe just to get my punishment reduced and secure one more nomination."

He added that the missteps that led to his punishment arose in the course of raising objections to how the party was being run. "I will reflect on what I did wrong, exercise restraint where I should, and yet still do what needs to be done," he said.

On the recently proposed plan to hold a full re-election of all local party chapter heads, Kwon said the leadership appeared to be "playing a hit-and-run strategy." "They must have known there would be backlash and that it was not feasible," he said. "If you say you are going to re-elect all 250-plus local chapter heads by direct member vote, of course people are going to ask why now."

"The pushback from lawmakers and chapter heads is entirely understandable," he said. Kwon also criticized Jang for saying members who do not fight should hand in their badges. "If you want to fight, what does that actually require? The party needs to be united," he said.


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