Bae Hyun-jin: "You cannot discipline public sentiment... I hope for a reasonable decision"

[Financial News] Bae Hyun-jin, head of the People Power Party’s Seoul Metropolitan Chapter, appeared before the Central Ethics Committee on the 11th and stated, "I said what needed to be said as the head of the Seoul Metropolitan Chapter of the People Power Party," adding, "I hope the ethics committee will make a reasonable decision."
That day, Bae attended the ethics committee meeting held at the party’s central headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, and went through about an hour of explanation and questioning. Earlier, she became the subject of disciplinary proceedings for allegedly leading a statement opposing the expulsion of former party leader Han Dong-hoon. Lee Sang-gyu, head of the local party chapter for the Seongbuk-eul district in Seoul, filed a complaint with the ethics committee, claiming that Bae released a statement signed by 21 local chapter heads urging opposition to Han’s expulsion as if it reflected the official position of the entire Seoul Metropolitan Chapter.
Before entering the ethics committee, Bae told reporters, "You can put me on a political guillotine and discipline a chapter head you find disagreeable or uncomfortable, but I don’t believe you can discipline public sentiment," adding, "Many people are worried that I might be forced to leave the party or be expelled, but I believe the ethics committee is making a commonsense and reasonable judgment."
She went on, "I am concerned that a decision such as suspending my party membership could halt, all at once, the candidate vetting process for our chapter, which is in the middle of preparing for the local elections," stressing, "That would effectively dismantle the organization we have built up over the past six months."
After the meeting, she said, "The chapter head who filed the complaint captured all of my Facebook posts and used them to raise objections," adding, "They suggested I was engaging in factional politics, but that is absolutely not the case."
She continued, "I reiterated my unchanged views on the December 3 emergency martial law declaration and on First Lady Kim Keon-hee," and added, "I conveyed that this disciplinary case does not end with a single person being punished, but effectively puts all committee members preparing for the Seoul elections on ‘pause.’"
Bae said, "The ethics committee checked whether, in the process of distributing statements by Seoul Metropolitan Chapter heads and by city and district council members, I had taken the lead or coerced anyone," and added, "I believe I was able to explain myself sufficiently."
Meanwhile, regarding the Seoul Metropolitan Chapter Ethics Committee’s decision to recommend that YouTuber Ko Sung-kuk leave the party, she commented, "I think the Seoul Metropolitan Chapter Ethics Committee courageously took on a difficult task that the central party would have found hard to handle."

haeram@fnnews.com Lee Haeram Reporter