"'Party Withdrawal Recommendation' Cha Myung-jin: 'Able to Complete the Election... Grateful for the Ethics Committee's Decision'"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Cha Myung-jin, the Bucheon Byeong candidate who received disciplinary action from the party's Ethics Committee for making derogatory remarks that "the Sewol ferry victims' families engaged in immoral behavior," expressed gratitude, saying, "I am now able to complete the election" following the decision to recommend his resignation from the party.

On the 10th, Cha announced this on his Facebook, stating, "I am grateful for the wise decision of the Ethics Committee."

He said, "Fortunately, I avoided expulsion. I can now complete the election as a candidate of the United Future Party. I have already started election campaigning."

Earlier that day, the United Future Party held an Ethics Committee meeting and decided to recommend Cha's resignation from the party. If he does not resign, he will be expelled after 10 days, but he is allowed to participate in the election for now. The Ethics Committee explained the reason, saying, "It has been confirmed that inappropriate remarks harmful to the party were made during the election period. However, it appears that the remarks were cited in the context of defending and explaining against the opposing candidate's derogatory 'beast' comment."

Previously, Cha caused controversy for using the term "ㅇㅇㅇ incident" at a general election candidate debate, implying that "the Sewol ferry victims' families engaged in immoral behavior." In his written explanation submitted to the Ethics Committee, Cha stated, "The opposing candidate called those who sanctify the Sewol ferry incident 'people' and those who do not 'beasts.' I felt the need to inform viewers who the real beasts were," explaining the reason for his remarks.

He added, "To avoid overly explicit expressions, I euphemistically used the term 'ㅇㅇㅇ incident,' which appears in English dictionaries. The source is not just a rumor but an article published in May 2018 by the internet media News Plus, and it has not been deleted even at this moment."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.