It has been learned that the People Power Party Central Ethics Committee rejected a recusal request from former Supreme Council member Kim Jong-hyeok, an ally of Han (Han Dong-hoon), who is up for disciplinary review.
According to political circles on the 25th, the Ethics Committee is expected to hold a meeting this week to vote on disciplinary action against the former Supreme Council member Kim. Earlier, the Party Affairs Audit Committee recommended to the Ethics Committee a heavy punishment of a two-year suspension of party membership for the former Supreme Council member Kim.
The former Supreme Council member Kim said in a Facebook post that around 10 a.m. he received a text from the Ethics Committee stating, "Regarding your recusal request against Chairperson Yoon Min-woo, the Ethics Committee decided to dismiss it at the 4th meeting on the 23rd with the unanimous opinion of all attending Commissioners," and made it public.
The former Supreme Council member Kim had filed the recusal request on the grounds that the Ethics Committee had already formed a preconceived notion that he committed an illegal act, but it was not accepted. He had argued that Ethics Committee Chairperson Yoon Min-woo's likening him to a "mafia" and a "terrorist" in the written decision expelling former leader Han Dong-hoon was evidence of such a preconceived notion.
However, in the text sent to the former Supreme Council member Kim that day, the Ethics Committee said, "Based solely on the grounds for the request and the content cited in the expulsion decision for the former leader Han, it is not sufficient to conclude that a preconceived notion about the applicant (Kim Jong-hyeok) was revealed or that there is a significant concern of a markedly unfair vote."
In response, the former Supreme Council member Kim said, "Last night they had a party secretariat staffer unilaterally notify me by phone that the recusal request was dismissed, and then this morning, after I criticized on Facebook, asking 'Is it okay to do this without a written notice?,' they hurriedly sent a text two hours later," and added, "They say the remaining four Ethics Commissioners rejected it unanimously. Do the three lawyer members (who are Ethics Commissioners) truly believe that, staking their legal conscience?"
Earlier, the Party Affairs Audit Committee recommended to the Ethics Committee that the former Supreme Council member Kim receive a two-year suspension of party membership for remarks and actions in media interviews that insulted the party leadership and party members, and the Ethics Committee summoned the Supreme Council member Kim to a full meeting on the 19th to conduct an explanation procedure. If the Ethics Committee votes on a disciplinary plan, expulsion is finalized after a vote by the Supreme Council, while recommendations to leave the party, suspension of party membership, or warnings are finalized without a Supreme Council vote after a 10-day appeal period.