Yoon Ethics Committee Suspends Kim Jae-won's Party Membership for 1 Year... Tae Young-ho Suspended for 3 Months (Update)

Gold, Next Year's General Election Nomination Virtually Blocked
Tai Supreme Committee Member Resigns, Disciplinary Severity Reduced

The People Power Party Central Ethics Committee decided on the 10th to impose a severe disciplinary action of 'one-year suspension of party membership rights' on Supreme Council Member Kim Jaewon, who caused controversy with a series of 'controversial remarks.' For Representative Tae Young-ho, who abruptly resigned from his Supreme Council position just hours before the Ethics Committee's disciplinary decision, the committee imposed a 'three-month suspension of party membership rights.'

Kim Jae-won, Supreme Council Member of the People Power Party, is attending the Ethics Committee held at the People Power Party headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul on the 8th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

The Ethics Committee held its 4th meeting from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Yeouido party headquarters on the same day, reviewing additional explanatory materials submitted by Supreme Council Member Kim and Representative Tae before making this decision. This came just nine days after the disciplinary procedure was initiated at the first Ethics Committee meeting on the 1st. Coincidentally, this day also marked the first anniversary of President Yoon Suk-yeol's inauguration.

As a result of the Ethics Committee's decision, Supreme Council Member Kim is effectively barred from receiving party nomination for next year's general election, whereas Representative Tae, having voluntarily resigned from his Supreme Council position, received 'leniency' and thus opened the path to apply for party nomination in the general election. The Ethics Committee's disciplinary measures consist of four levels, ranging from mild warnings to suspension of party membership rights, recommendation to leave the party, and expulsion.

Supreme Council Member Kim became subject to disciplinary review due to remarks such as his statement on March 12 at Sarang Jeil Church that "President Yoon Suk-yeol's comment about including the spirit of the May 18 Democratic Movement in the preamble of the Constitution was made to gain votes during the election," his comment in a lecture that "Pastor Jeon Kwang-hoon unified the right-wing camp," and his remark that "the Jeju 4.3 Incident is a commemorative day of a lower status."

Tae Young-ho, a Supreme Council member of the People Power Party, is moving while receiving questions from reporters after holding a press conference to voluntarily resign from his Supreme Council position at the National Assembly Communication Office on the 10th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Representative Tae faced disciplinary procedures for three reasons: his statement that "the Jeju 4.3 Incident was triggered under the orders of North Korea's Kim Il-sung," his posting on social media related to the Democratic Party's 'money envelope' scandal with the phrase "Junk Money Sex Democratic Party. Indeed JMS Democratic Party," and the 'recording leak scandal' that sparked controversy over presidential office interference in nominations.

Originally, the Ethics Committee planned to decide the level of disciplinary action at the meeting on the 8th, but postponed the decision to this day, citing the need to verify additional facts such as the submission of explanatory materials. Earlier, Ethics Committee Chairman Hwang Jeong-geun hinted at considering voluntary resignation from the Supreme Council position as a mitigating factor in determining the disciplinary level during a press briefing after the meeting two days prior, mentioning a 'political solution.'

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