The Seoul chapter of the People Power Party on the 8th rejected Yongsan District Chief Park Hee-young's bid to rejoin. Park left the People Power Party after the deadly crowd crush in the nightlife district of Itaewon in 2022 and sought to return ahead of the local elections.
The People Power Party's Seoul chapter said in a news release the same day that it had rejected Park's readmission. The People Power Party's Seoul chapter said, "District Chief Park Hee-young requested readmission based on a not-guilty verdict at the court of first instance, but the Seoul chapter's party membership qualification review committee empathized with the grief of the bereaved families over the large-scale social disaster, fully recognized the political and moral responsibility, and rejected the readmission."
It added, "The People Power Party has not forgotten the painful lesson of defeat it suffered when it re-nominated a pardoned and reinstated candidate in the Gangseo District chief by-election," and said, "The Seoul chapter will listen to the voices of citizens and will not repeat decisions that run counter to public sentiment."
Park's readmission was expected to be discussed at the People Power Party's Supreme Council meeting on the 5th, but no actual discussion took place. Choi Bo-yoon, the People Power Party's chief spokesperson, told reporters after the Supreme Council meeting at the time, "A total of six readmissions were approved. There were also approvals of readmission applications by local election candidates," adding, "For two people, we did not put it to a vote and deferred it."