After Han Dong-hoon, Kim Jong-hyuk’s expulsion finalized...Pro-Han faction denounces “purge”

[Financial News] Kim Jong-hyuk, a former People Power Party Supreme Council member aligned with the pro–Han Dong-hoon faction, had his expulsion finalized on the 9th. The party’s Central Ethics Committee had imposed a heavy disciplinary measure on him on the 26th of last month, recommending that he leave the party. Once this decision was reported to the Supreme Council, his expulsion was confirmed. The pro-Han faction protested, calling it a politically motivated “purge.”
The People Power Party leadership received the Ethics Committee’s disciplinary motion against Kim at a Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly the same day. As a result, Kim has now lost his People Power Party membership.
Previously, the Ethics Committee had concluded that Kim violated the party constitution, party regulations, and ethical rules when he appeared on various media outlets and referred to the leadership under Jang Dong-hyuk and party members as a “delusional virus,” “not even a handful,” and “fascists.” The committee described Kim’s remarks as a “terror attack” and defined them as “excessive hate-inciting comments against his own party,” judging that they crossed the threshold of legitimate criticism.
When a member receives a disciplinary measure recommending that they leave the party, they must submit a withdrawal notice within 10 days of being notified; otherwise, they are expelled. Kim did not request a retrial, just as former party leader Han Dong-hoon did not in his own case, so the disciplinary decision was finalized without a retrial.
Kim’s expulsion was not decided through a Supreme Council vote but was concluded as a matter for reporting only. Under the party constitution and regulations, “if a person who has received a disciplinary decision recommending withdrawal from the party does not submit a withdrawal notice within 10 days from the date of receiving the notification, that person shall be expelled without going through a committee resolution and without delay.” Based on this, the leadership interpreted that no Supreme Council vote was required. By contrast, in Han’s expulsion case, the rules explicitly state that it is “finalized through a Supreme Council resolution.”
Within the party, many had already expected that Kim’s expulsion would be finalized without a Supreme Council vote. In November 2017, former President Park Geun-hye received a recommendation to leave the party but did not submit a withdrawal notice, and then–Liberty Korea Party leader Hong Joon-pyo confirmed her expulsion without a Supreme Council resolution, creating a precedent.
With Han, the former party leader, and now his close associate Kim both losing their party membership, internal conflict is expected to intensify further. Bae Hyun-jin, a pro-Han figure and head of the Seoul chapter, has also entered Ethics Committee disciplinary proceedings. After news of Kim’s expulsion broke, lawmaker Han Ji-ah wrote on a social networking service (SNS), “The politics of purges continues,” and criticized, “If people are purged simply for making uncomfortable remarks, what that politics is protecting is not values but power.”
haeram@fnnews.com Lee Hae-ram Reporter