PPP faces turmoil after six-month suspension of its chairman

Politics

Published: 10 Jul. 2022, 18:14

PPP faces turmoil after six-month suspension of its chairman

People Power Party Chairman Lee Jun-seok speaks to reporters after he was questioned by the PPP’s ethics committee at the National Assembly in western Seoul early Friday. The committee decided to suspend Lee's party membership for six months. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

The People Power Party (PPP) is working to overcome internal turmoil after suspending the membership of its chairman Lee Jun-seok for six months over allegations he received sexual services as a bribe, which he tried to cover up.

The PPP's ethics committee deliberated over the case for some eight hours from Thursday evening and announced early Friday that Lee's party membership would be suspended for six months for failing to maintain the standards required of a party leader.

Lee was accused of accepting sexual services paid for by a businessman in 2013 and abetting an attempt to destroy evidence related to the incident.

"Lee violated the ethics regulation of the party, which states that all party members must observe manners and must not undermine the reputation of the party," said Lee Yang-hee, chairperson of the ethics committee and a former UN special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar, in a press briefing Friday.

This marks the first time a party chairman's behavior has been referred to an ethics committee.

PPP chief Lee Jun-seok appeared in front of the ethics committee for some three hours to answer questions from the panel and denied the allegations against him.

Lee in turn said he will not step down as party chairman and will take all possible measures to reverse the ethics committee's decision.

"I have no intention to step down," Lee told KBS radio on Friday, shortly after the ethics committee revealed its decision, calling the verdict "unacceptable."

He claimed the chairman of the PPP is responsible for executing disciplinary actions by the ethics committee and said he could appeal the decision or ask for an injunction.

However, PPP floor leader Kweon Seong-dong, who will be filling in as the acting party chief, said Friday that Lee's suspension had taken effect immediately.

"As the floor leader of the ruling party, I apologize to the public," Kweon said in a party meeting. "Nothing has been decided so far. We will prepare to overcome this challenge."

Lee has 10 days to file an appeal against the ethics committee, but the panel is unlikely to overturn its decision.

Despite an early political start and a promising future, the ethics committee's disciplinary action may put Lee's future political career at a critical juncture.

The PPP was scheduled to hold a general assembly Monday afternoon to discuss ways to overcome the situation and avoid any chaos due to a vacuum in leadership.

Lee's two-year term as chairman runs until next June.

The PPP could hold a national convention to elect a new leader to serve out the remainder of Lee's term. It could also form an emergency leadership committee until Lee's suspension ends in January.

The party has continuously faced internal feuding due to factionalism dividing those who are close to President Yoon Suk-yeol, led by Kweon, and those who are not.

The PPP, amid President Yoon's falling approval rating in recent weeks and a looming internal power struggle, is cautious about its next steps.

"We need to put an end to the strife as soon as possible and stabilize the leadership through orderly normalization," Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon, a former PPP floor leader, wrote on Facebook Sunday. "It is all of our responsibility for letting the situation become like this."

The allegations against Lee were raised by a right-wing YouTube channel last December, which accused Lee of receiving sexual services twice in Daejeon in return for a business favor, arranged by Kim Sung-jin, founder and CEO of startup i-KAIST. Kim has been serving a nine-year prison sentence for fraud since 2018 in a separate case.

The channel later reported that Lee attempted to cover up any scandal through Kim Cheol-geun, his political affairs chief, who promised an investment of 700 million won ($560,000) to an informant surnamed Jang in exchange for a statement claiming there had not been any sexual favors.

The PPP's nine-member ethics committee began disciplinary action against Lee on April 21.

A separate police investigation related to the allegations is ongoing.

The disciplinary actions the PPP ethics committee could have taken against Lee ranged from a warning, a suspension of party membership, a recommendation to quit the party, or expulsion.

Lee's aide Kim Cheol-geun received a two-year suspension from the party.

Lee graduated Harvard University and entered politics in 2011 as a member of the conservative party's interim emergency leadership committee upon the recommendation of former President Park Geun-hye.

In June 2021, Lee became the youngest-ever chief of a political party at the age of 36.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]