The People Power Party's Central Ethics Committee issued a warning to Mr. Jeon Hang-gil (real name Jeon Yu-gwan) for his so-called 'betrayer jeer incident' at a joint speech meeting in Daegu and Gyeongbuk on the 8th. Following Mr. Jeon's incident, voices calling for severe punishment arose among the party leadership and lawmakers, but ultimately only a warning, which corresponds to a low level of discipline, was imposed.
Chairperson Yeo Sang-won of the People Power Party's Central Ethics Committee held a second meeting regarding Mr. Jeon's disciplinary action at the party headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 14th and briefed the media, saying, 'We decided to issue a warning to Mr. Jeon.' The warning is the weakest form of discipline following expulsion, urging resignation, and suspension of party membership.
Chairperson Yeo stated, 'We did not demand punishment due to divisions and confrontations within the party. We looked for related disciplinary cases but have not yet found any.' She explained, 'The opinions were divided between treating Mr. Jeon with a cautionary measure rather than disciplinary action and determining it as a disciplinary matter, so it was decided by majority vote.'
She continued, 'The main focus of the ethics committee is to impose severe punishment on anyone involved if there is a related disciplinary demand in the future, and this time, understanding Mr. Jeon's deep remorse expressed in legal terms and promising not to do so again, we decided to limit it to this extent.' She emphasized that Mr. Jeon also showed a willingness to accept expulsion if similar incidents occur in the future.
Party ethics committee members reportedly focused more on Mr. Jeon's act of entering the speech meeting as a journalist despite not being a responsible party member than on his comment of 'betrayer' at the joint speech meeting. Mr. Jeon attended the Central Ethics Committee meeting that day and was given about 15 to 20 minutes to explain himself. It was reported that he clarified that he was impulsively angry over criticisms made by candidate Kim Geun-sik in front of him.
Chairperson Yeo mentioned the fact that the party leadership called for severe punishment but explained that 'equity' must be considered. This means that Mr. Jeon's promise to prevent recurrence and the absence of physical violence should be taken into account as mitigating factors.
Chairperson Yeo noted, 'Since it involves matters related to the party convention, Emergency Response Chairperson Song Eon-seok and others spoke of severe punishment, but the ethics committee believed it should be equitable,' adding, '(Severe punishment) was considered excessive compared to the actions taken, leading to the decision for a warning.'