The Democratic Party of Korea's Seoul chapter said on the 2nd that it had confirmed disciplinary reasons equivalent to expulsion for Seoul City Council member Kim Gyeong, who faced allegations of mobilizing a religious group. However, it said no signs were found of a collective enrollment by a specific religious group.

Democratic Party of Korea Kim Hanna, Seoul Party Ethics Adjudication Committee member, is announcing the results of an investigation into allegations of "mobilizing religious organizations for primary elections" at the National Assembly press hall in Yeouido, Seoul on the 2nd. /Courtesy of Yonhap News

Kim Han-na, chairperson of the Seoul chapter's Ethics Tribunal, held a press conference at the National Assembly that day and said, "The Seoul chapter's Ethics Tribunal has confirmed that there are disciplinary reasons applicable to expulsion for Seoul City Council member Kim Gyeong."

She added, "The Seoul chapter is conducting a full review of its members, and a large-scale collective enrollment by a specific religious group has not been confirmed."

Chairperson Kim emphasized, "The timing of the recorded call was just before the deadline to join in order to exercise voting rights in the primary. Considering the processing and screening period for membership review, it was not possible, in terms of timing, to carry out a collective enrollment."

She went on, "In the process of examining documents related to the members recommended by Council member Kim, we identified cases that violated the party constitution and rules," adding, "Council member Kim appears to have engaged in this obstruction of party affairs with the aim of running for Yeongdeungpo District Office chief in the next local elections."

She apologized, saying, "We are sorry for causing concern to party members due to Council member Kim's deviation."

Earlier, People Power Party lawmaker Jin Jong-oh alleged that Council member Kim had obtained the personal information of 3,000 followers of a specific religious group and sought to use it in the Democratic Party's 2023 primary process. Council member Kim pushed back, calling it "malicious fabrication," but announced her departure from the party. The Democratic Party's Seoul chapter subsequently invalidated the memberships of the members recruited and enrolled by Kim and has been conducting a full review.

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