People Power Party "6-Month Suspension of Party Membership for Busan Buk-gu Mayor Over Controversial Remarks on People with Developmental Disabilities"

The People Power Party's Central Ethics Committee has decided to suspend Oh Tae-won, the mayor of Buk-gu, Busan, from party membership for six months due to controversial remarks related to people with developmental disabilities.

The Ethics Committee held a meeting at the central party office that morning and announced through a press release that it had decided to discipline Mayor Oh for violating Article 20 (Grounds for Disciplinary Action) Clause 2 of the Party Ethics Committee Regulations and Article 4 (Maintenance of Dignity) Paragraph 1 of the Party Ethics Rules.

Earlier, on the 17th, during a joint press conference of Gangseo-gu and Buk-gu in Busan, Mayor Oh's remarks during a conversation about maintaining the 'Lifelong Education Center,' an educational institution for people with developmental disabilities, sparked controversy. When Kim Hyeong-chan, the mayor of Gangseo-gu who was present at the conference, said, "Parents of people with developmental disabilities live a lifetime of sacrifice. What fault do the parents have?" Mayor Oh responded, "If there is a fault, they shouldn't have had children. Why did they have them?" which triggered the controversy.

After the remarks, Mayor Oh apologized, saying, "My words were misplaced, and I did not intend to disparage people with developmental disabilities. My intention was to express sympathy for their hardships." Despite the apology, opposition parties, parents of people with disabilities, and related organizations strongly condemned Mayor Oh by issuing statements of protest.

On the day of the Ethics Committee meeting, Mayor Oh appeared before the committee to provide an explanation and later told reporters, "I apologize once again for the parts that hurt people with disabilities."

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