Lee gets his party membership suspended for 6 months over sexual bribery scandal

Chairman Lee Jun-seok of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) was disciplined for six months of suspension of party membership on July 8 for violating its obligation to maintain dignity related to the suspicions of destroying evidence to cover up a sexual bribery case.

Chairman Lee said he was not willing to resign voluntarily, stressing that he would take all possible measures, including a retrial and injunction.

In a KBS radio show, “Choi Kyung-young's strongest preview,” Chairman Lee said, “Now, some lawmakers from our party have even been sentenced from the Supreme Court, but the disposition of the Ethics Committee is still being delayed. 

Chairman Lee Jun-seok of the ruling People Power Party attends an ethics committee on the suspicion of destroying the evidence of sexual payment at the Yeouido National Assembly in Seoul on July 7.
Chairman Lee Jun-seok of the ruling People Power Party attends an ethics committee on the suspicion of destroying the evidence of sexual payment at the Yeouido National Assembly in Seoul on July 7.

“In the case of me, however, a six-month suspension of the party's membership was imposed in the absence of an investigation, and I have no choice but to object to the equality of the ethics committee.

“The cases of former lawmakers Kim Sung-tae and Yeom Dong-yeol have been dealt with yet. I’m wondering if they’ve just taken me out of this situation,” he said.

“In fact, it is necessary to objectify a violation of dignity what the damage I caused to the party. But I have not even heard about that just after winning the elections twice,” Lee said. “I think it was a very unusual procedure of the ethics committee.”

Chairman Lee plans to suspend the disciplinary action using his authority as the party leader.

“The ethics committee rules suggest that the chairman of the PPP has the right to discipline as a result of disciplinary action. If this is not an acceptable situation, I will put the disciplinary action on hold,” he said.

“If the disposition is at a reasonable point, I will take it that way, but in the current situation, it is not. I will do everything I can to determine these situations, whether they are injunctions or retrials,” he said.

When asked whether he would resign from the party, Chairman Lee said, "I do not intend to do that.”

On the JTBC report the day before that there was a certain politician behind the revelation of Lee’s suspicion of sexual entertainment, Chairman Lee said, “I know there will be a follow-up report on it, I wonder why the ethics committee made such a quick decision without such consideration.”

When asked who the certain politician was, he said, “I could identify some of them as soon as I heard the news, but it’s hard to say that by making sure.”
 

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