Jang Kyung-tae: "The People Power Party May Oppose Kim Nam-guk's Expulsion... Expulsion Is Not Easy"

Following the controversy over a large amount of virtual assets, Kim Nam-guk, who left the Democratic Party of Korea, was recommended for expulsion by the advisory committee of the National Assembly Ethics Committee the day before, drawing attention to whether the expulsion bill will pass in the plenary session. Democratic Party lawmaker Jang Kyung-tae said, "It is difficult to predict," and expected that it would not go as far as expulsion.

On the 21st, Jang said on CBS's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show', "Since the vote on personnel matters is a secret ballot, the People Power Party is actually a bulletproof party. There could be dissenting votes to frame it this way again,"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

In response to the host's question, "Does this mean the People Power Party might oppose the expulsion?" he said, "There are various calculations to make things difficult for the Democratic Party. They might say, 'Let them suffer a bit,' in that way. Since it is a secret ballot, it is probably difficult to predict who voted how,"

The advisory committee of the National Assembly Ethics Committee recommended Kim's expulsion the day before. However, for the expulsion to be confirmed, two-thirds of the total members of the National Assembly must approve it in the plenary session. Jang said, "Expulsion is not easy," and regarding the possibility of Kim voluntarily resigning, he said, "I think it is not easy,"

Jang said, "Regarding the loss of office, the advisory committee can certainly send a strong message about any illegal acts or moral insensitivity. However, if this leads to expulsion due to various violations of maintaining dignity, there are many other issues now, so can the terms of various constitutional institutions elected by the people be shortened as well? There are various fairness issues,"

He added, "Regarding the coin scandal that has caused public outrage, the advisory committee naturally took the position that the strongest disciplinary action should be taken, but whether such a precedent will be set in the future for a judgment equivalent to losing a seat as a lawmaker, since it is a historical precedent, there will be some concerns,"