PPP ethics panel back to 5 members after 2 resign; party leadership says it stayed out

Two members of the People Power Party's Central Ethics Committee resigned Friday, returning the panel to a five-member structure after weeks of internal conflict over how it operates. The party leadership has kept its distance, emphasizing that the committee is an independent body.

Deputy Ethics Committee Chair Woo Jong-hwan and committee member Hwang Gyeong-seong issued a joint statement saying they were stepping down "with a heavy sense of responsibility for the internal strife within the ethics committee." Earlier that day, the two had called on Ethics Committee Chair Yun Min-woo to resign alongside them at a committee meeting.

When Yun in effect refused, the two said they had "requested a joint resignation to heal the committee's dysfunction and restore public trust, but Chair Yun effectively declined." They urged him to "make an honorable choice on his own before leaving behind an indelible stain in history by deepening the allegations already surrounding him."

The two had previously alleged that Yun shared the list of disciplinary targets and related details with outside parties in advance while the committee was deliberating on disciplinary action against independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon and others.

Despite a month of turmoil within the ethics committee, the party leadership has taken a wait-and-see approach. Park Chung-kwon, the PPP's chief spokesperson, told reporters at the National Assembly on Friday that the leadership "does not get involved in the committee's operations," but added that "the party's most recent position is that we would prefer those inside the ethics committee to refrain from disclosing internal details to the press."

Asked whether the resignations had been formally accepted, Park said the party was "only aware that the resignation letters have been received" and that "no separate discussion has taken place at the leadership level on this matter." He also said the party was not reviewing plans to fill the vacant seats.

Park drew a line against accusations that the committee had engaged in politically targeted disciplinary action. "I don't think it is accurate to say that only those on the opposite side of PPP leader Jang Dong-hyeok were referred for discipline," he said, adding, "Is it not the case that, as it happens, those in the pro-Han faction were the ones who committed wrongdoing or caused controversy?"

"The process is not being conducted in a biased manner," Park said. "The decision to initiate disciplinary proceedings falls under the ethics committee's purview — the party leadership has not decided to pursue discipline on any specific matter."

On the case of the victim of the "Busan spinning-kick incident" saying she did not want disciplinary action taken against lawmaker Jin Jong-oh, Park said the committee would make that determination. "From the party's perspective, we are concerned that this case could sap momentum for the campaign against the proposed revision to the Code of Criminal Procedure," he said.