Early Resignation About 6 Months Before October Term End
Did Kim Jaewon, Supreme Council Member, Feel Burdened by Far-Right Remarks Controversy?
It was reported on the 3rd that Lee Yang-hee, Chairperson of the People Power Party's Central Ethics Committee, has expressed her intention to resign. Representative Kim Ki-hyun is said to have accepted her resignation.
A People Power Party official said in a phone call with this publication on the same day, "I understand that Chairperson Lee has expressed her intention to resign," and added, "Since she expressed her resignation, (Representative Kim) is understood to have accepted it."
Chairperson Lee was appointed during the tenure of former Representative Lee Jun-seok in October 2021, and after her one-year term ended, she was reappointed for another year during the time of then Emergency Response Committee Chairperson Jeong Jin-seok. Accordingly, her term was set to last until October this year, but she is stepping down about six months early.
Chairperson Lee was the figure who led the disciplinary action against former Representative Lee. The People Power Party Ethics Committee imposed a six-month suspension of party membership on former Representative Lee in July last year over allegations of instructing the destruction of evidence related to sexual bribery, and in October, added a one-year suspension of party membership for criticizing President Yoon Seok-youl and the party using expressions such as "sheep's head and dog meat" and "new military regime."
Meanwhile, the party's Ethics Committee recently became a topic of discussion again as Supreme Council Member Kim Jae-won sparked controversy with his "far-right remarks." Supreme Council Member Kim made statements at the Sarang Jeil Church service and lectures in the United States, such as "Pastor Jeon Kwang-hoon unifying the right-wing camp" and opposing the inclusion of the May 18 spirit in the preamble of the Constitution, which led to expectations of his referral to the Ethics Committee, but Representative Kim only warned, "If such behavior is repeated again, we cannot help but consider other measures."
In this context, voices calling for Kim Jae-won's referral to the Ethics Committee have emerged both inside and outside the party. Former People Power Party Representative Political Affairs Office Chief Kim Cheol-geun recently said on KBC's "Baek Woon-gi's Current Affairs No. 1" program, "I don't know what Lee Yang-hee, the Ethics Committee Chairperson, is doing," and added, "Isn't this the time to come out wearing a red jacket and take action?"
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