Cho Kyung-tae calls Jang Dong-hyeok's 'permanent ban on rejoining' a 'very dangerous remark'

Amid reports that the People Power Party's ethics committee has received a disciplinary referral against lawmaker Cho Kyung-tae, Cho fired back Tuesday, saying "the one who has truly committed a serious act against the party is party leader Jang Dong-hyeok, who lied to the public and party members."

Speaking on SBS Radio's "Kim Tae-hyun's Politics Show" that day, Cho said, "It is not right for a leadership that should be taking responsibility for the local election defeat to instead muzzle those who oppose them with disciplinary measures — that is the height of shamelessness."

Cho also pushed back on allegations that, after losing the primary election for National Assembly vice speaker, he urged Democratic Party of Korea lawmakers not to vote for Rep. Park Deok-heum for the post. "Is it normal for a party to seat someone who supported insurrection and opposed the impeachment of the insurrection ringleader in a National Assembly position?" he said.

He added, "What I said was that those who supported insurrection should not hold National Assembly posts — and that is a legitimate position. The vice speaker election is a venue where lawmakers vote freely. It does not matter whom they choose."

Cho also took aim at the 59 lawmakers who voted for Park in the party's internal primary, saying they "made the wrong call" and that he did not consider a party that seats someone who opposed impeachment in a National Assembly post to be a normal party.

Cho criticized as "a very dangerous remark" party leader Jang's statement at a closed senior leadership meeting Monday that "serious offenders against the party should be permanently banned from rejoining, even if the party constitution and rules need to be amended to do so."

"If Jang said he would resign if the party lost the local elections, he should simply resign," Cho said. "Using disciplinary politics to redirect attention elsewhere is an act of cowardice."

He went on to say, "If you ask the public whether Cho Kyung-tae — who tried to protect the lives and safety of the people and impeached the insurrection ringleader — is the one who acted against the party, or whether it is party leader Jang Dong-hyeok — who defended the insurrection ringleader and refuses to take responsibility for the local election defeat — they will give you the answer."

Cho also questioned Jang's motives for activating the ethics committee, calling it "a scheme to dodge calls for accountability and resignation" and asking, "Will the public tolerate this kind of scheming politics aimed at extending his own tenure as party leader?"

When asked how he would respond if actual disciplinary action were taken, Cho said it was "not appropriate to answer a hypothetical question about something that has not yet happened," but added, "On the issues of the Dec. 3 emergency martial law and insurrection, I have no intention of making any political compromise with anyone."