Lee Jun-seok's Expulsion Realized as Predicted?... Non-Prosecution Decision, Ethics Committee Disciplinary Outcome Key Variables Monitored

Police Decide Not to Prosecute Lee Jun-seok on Sexual Bribery Allegations
Lee Yong-ho: "Too Far to Reconcile"
"Non-Prosecution Decision Will Not Be a Get-Out-of-Jail-Free Card"

Former People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok is expressing his position as he attends the hearing for the injunction to suspend the effectiveness of the People Power Party's party rules held at the Seoul Southern District Court in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul on the 14th. Photo by National Assembly Press Photographers Group

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Ju-hee] Former People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok, who had anticipated his own 'expulsion.' Regarding the legal disputes with the party, Lee recently said in a media interview, "They seem to be trying to create any excuse to activate the expulsion scenario." Shortly after these remarks, the party's Ethics Committee initiated additional disciplinary procedures against Lee, leading to observations that the 'Lee Jun-seok expulsion scenario' has effectively become a reality. However, since the police investigating Lee's alleged sexual bribery decided not to prosecute on charges such as mediation bribery, there are also prospects that this could influence the additional disciplinary actions.

Lee appears to view the Ethics Committee's initiation of additional disciplinary procedures as an attempt to nullify the injunction he filed against the party. Before the hearing of the injunction case against the 'Jung Jin-seok Emergency Response Committee' scheduled for the 28th, it is speculated that the party aims to render him no longer a party member to seek dismissal. In fact, the Ethics Committee moved up the full meeting originally scheduled for the 28th to the 18th to proceed with the additional disciplinary procedures against Lee. In July, Lee received a severe penalty of 'six months suspension of party membership rights,' and according to party rules, additional disciplinary actions must be of a higher severity than previous ones, making expulsion or an equivalent sanction highly likely.

However, the police's decision on the 20th not to prosecute regarding Lee's sexual bribery allegations is expected to place considerable pressure on the Ethics Committee's decision. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Anti-Corruption and Public Crime Investigation Unit ruled 'no jurisdiction' and 'no charges' on various hospitality allegations extending until around 2015, including the claim that Lee received sexual bribery twice in 2013 from Kim Sung-jin, CEO of iKist. Since the severe disciplinary action against Lee stemmed from these allegations, there is room for controversy over whether the disciplinary action itself was justified. At the time, some within the party suggested that the decision on discipline should be made after reviewing the investigation results of the sexual bribery allegations. However, the police stated they will continue investigating the cases related to Lee's evidence tampering and false accusation charges.

The internal party atmosphere generally anticipates that the police's non-prosecution decision will not be a significant variable in the additional disciplinary decision. When the Ethics Committee imposed the severe disciplinary action on Lee in July, it did not judge the truth of the sexual bribery allegations but focused mainly on the suspicion of evidence tampering related to the '70 million won investment memorandum.' People Power Party lawmaker Choi Hyung-doo appeared on CBS Radio's 'Park Jae-hong's One-on-One' on the 20th and explained, "At that time, the Ethics Committee initially dismissed the sexual bribery allegations. The 70 million won memorandum physically existed. The person who directly went (Kim Cheol-geun, the party representative's political secretary who wrote the memorandum) and even the party leader testified and defended, but they could not persuade the Ethics Committee. There was a lot of suspicion about the memorandum itself, so harsher disciplinary actions were imposed on the close aides who directly went."

Additionally, since the trigger for the Ethics Committee's initiation of additional disciplinary action was not the sexual bribery allegations but Lee's strong remarks targeting President Yoon Seok-yeol and the party leadership, some opinions hold that the recent non-prosecution decision and the additional disciplinary action are unrelated. People Power Party lawmaker Lee Yong-ho said in an interview with YTN Radio's 'Park Ji-hoon's News King,' "The Lee Jun-seok issue has inflicted wounds and critical damage on the party, and the long process has caused fatigue among the public. It has gone too far for reconciliation, and it would be better to part ways amicably." He added, "A non-prosecution decision means something different from 'there is no charge.' Regardless of guilt or innocence, it means it is too late legally to prosecute, and in that sense, it will not serve as a pardon."

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