'Sewolho Tent Insult' Cha Myung-jin Wins Final Victory in People Power Party Expulsion Nullification Lawsuit

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Ahead of the 2020 general election, the Supreme Court ruled that the Future United Party's decision to expel former lawmaker Cha Myung-jin, who was embroiled in controversy over his 'Sewol ferry tent slander,' was "invalid due to procedural issues."

According to the legal community on the 15th, the Supreme Court's 2nd Division (Presiding Justice Cheon Dae-yeop) upheld the appellate court's ruling in favor of the plaintiff in the final appeal trial of the invalidation lawsuit filed by former lawmaker Cha against the People Power Party (formerly Future United Party) regarding his expulsion resolution.

In April 2020, during a broadcast debate, former lawmaker Cha stated, "I already know of an article claiming that in May 2018, Sewol ferry volunteers and bereaved families engaged in indecent acts inside a tent that cannot be expressed in words," leading to his expulsion two days before the general election.

Initially, the Future United Party urged former lawmaker Cha to resign from the party, but after he continued to post on social media criticizing his rival candidate, lawmaker Kim Sang-hee, using inappropriate expressions, the party held a Supreme Council meeting and resolved to expel him. In response, former lawmaker Cha filed a lawsuit seeking confirmation that the expulsion resolution was invalid.

The court accepted former lawmaker Cha's request on April 14, 2020, the day before the general election, and decided to suspend the effect of the expulsion resolution. Former lawmaker Cha ran as the Future United Party candidate for the Gyeonggi Bucheon-byeong district in the general election but was defeated.

The first trial on the merits dismissed the case for failing to meet the requirements for litigation. However, the second trial ruled that the Future United Party at the time had a serious procedural defect by resolving the expulsion at the Supreme Council without going through the Ethics Committee's review and resolution, thus declaring the expulsion resolution invalid. The Supreme Court found no problem with this second trial ruling and dismissed the appeal without further review.

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