The People Power Party Central Ethics Committee has initiated disciplinary procedures against lawmakers Kwon Young-jin, Cho Kyung-tae and Jin Jong-oh.
After a closed-door meeting on the afternoon of the 27th, the Ethics Committee said in a news release that it had initiated disciplinary procedures against party members Kwon Young-jin, Cho Kyung-tae and Jin Jong-oh.
Lawmaker Kwon Young-jin was brought before the Ethics Committee after visiting the People Power Party floor leader's office on the 23rd to express dissatisfaction over standing committee assignments and demand a move to a committee other than the Public Administration and Security Committee, leading to a physical clash in which he grabbed the collars of Floor Leader Jeong Jeom-sig and former Floor Leader Song Eon-seok.
Cho was referred to the Ethics Committee over allegations that, after losing the party primary for National Assembly vice speaker candidate, he urged the defeat of Vice Speaker Park Deok-heum, and Jin was reported for supporting independent candidate Han Dong-hoon during the Busan Buk-gap by-election held alongside the June 3 local elections.
Meanwhile, the People Power Party Central Ethics Committee originally had seven members, but after two Ethics Commissioners resigned in succession, it is now operating with five. Only three, including Chairperson Yoon Min-woo, attended the meeting that day.
Vice Chairperson Woo Jong-hwan and Ethics Commissioner Hwang Kyung-sung are pushing back, saying Chairperson Yoon Min-woo's way of running meetings is one-sided. In a joint statement the day before (on the 26th), they said, "Offer a public apology for the disciplinary standards for criticizing the party leader for 'loyalty oath' purposes."
When, on the 22nd, the Ethics Committee announced standards defining "repeatedly slandering the party leader and others" as grounds for discipline, criticism arose internally that the content had been disclosed like the chairperson's personal opinion without sufficient consensus, sparking conflict within the Ethics Committee itself.