Preventing 'Jeon Gwang-hoon Recommender' from Joining... Notification to Be Sent Soon

Jeon Gwang-hoon's Measures to Prevent 'Party Membership Campaign'

The People Power Party has taken steps to block the 'party membership recruitment campaign' declared by Pastor Jeon Gwang-hoon of Sarang Jeil Church.

On the afternoon of the 18th, Chief Spokesperson Yoo Sang-beom met with reporters at the National Assembly Communication Office and stated, "Pastor Jeon continues inappropriate actions such as inciting his supporters to join the party with the purpose of influencing our party's nominations," adding, "We plan to send a notice prohibiting dual party membership to party members who listed Pastor Jeon as their recommender."

First, the party plans to send notices to 981 existing members who wrote 'Jeon Gwang-hoon' as their recommender at the time of joining. The message will state, "Under the current Political Parties Act, holding dual party membership is prohibited, and violating this law is subject to punishment. Please check whether you hold membership in another party to ensure no legal violations occur."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

For new applicants, an in-depth qualification review will be conducted by the city and provincial party membership qualification committees. Chief Spokesperson Yoo said, "If an applicant lists Pastor Jeon as their recommender, we will conduct a thorough qualification review through the Party Membership Committee according to Article 4 of the Party Constitution and Article 7 of the Party Member Regulations, and decide on their admission."

Previously, Pastor Jeon held a press conference the day before, advocating for a "nationwide People Power Party membership recruitment campaign" and the "abolition of nomination rights." Initially, Pastor Jeon held the press conference stating he would "break ties with the People Power Party," but then said, "Many people from the People Power Party requested me," and "I will postpone the establishment of a new party for a few weeks."

The measure to prevent Pastor Jeon's associates from joining the party through the 'recommender' system is explained by the fact that there is no practical way to distinguish dual party membership. To verify dual membership, membership lists of both parties must be compared, but this is difficult to implement due to potential violations of the Personal Information Protection Act.

Therefore, if someone deliberately does not write Pastor Jeon as the recommender and applies for party membership, it is expected to be difficult to detect. In response to a reporter's question on this matter, Chief Spokesperson Yoo replied, "Realistically, we have no way to identify such cases."

It is also difficult to use measures such as expulsion instead of dual membership notices. Yoo explained, "According to the party constitution and regulations, expulsion requires at least that the act in question constitutes a violation or damages the party's dignity. Expulsion solely for 'recommending Jeon Gwang-hoon' is impossible under party rules," adding, "If dual membership is later discovered, criminal punishment is possible under the Political Parties Act, so if the individual confirms it, it is appropriate for them to actively withdraw from the other party."

Furthermore, Chief Spokesperson Yoo stated, "Regarding Pastor Jeon, there are currently no special plans for legal action by the party."

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