"We visited the party offices and found farms and apartments?"... Joo Jin-woo says Yong Hye-in could lose her seat

[Financial News] Political tensions between the ruling and opposition parties are escalating amid allegations that many of the Basic Income Party’s provincial and metropolitan city party branches are registered at farms or private residential apartments. The People Power Party has called them “sham registrations” intended to meet the requirements for establishing a political party, and has raised the possibility of canceling the party’s registration and even Yong Hye-in’s loss of her seat. The Basic Income Party, however, countered that its branches conduct legitimate activities while meeting all legal requirements, calling the allegations a political attack.

According to the office of People Power Party lawmaker Jung-Jae Kim and lawmaker Joo Jin-woo on the 9th, six of the Basic Income Party’s 10 provincial and metropolitan city branches had registered office addresses at apartments, farms or similar locations. The Gyeongsangnam-do branch and the Busan and Incheon city branches were registered at private apartments, while the Gwangju-Jeonnam branch was registered at a house. The Chungcheongnam-do and Jeollabuk-do branches were found to be registered at farms owned by their respective provincial branch chairs.
Joo Jin-woo of the People Power Party held a press conference at the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea’s communication hall on the 8th and criticized the branches, saying, "When I visited the sites, they were either farms with nothing but fertilizer bags piled up or apartments where private individuals lived. They were places where, by anyone’s assessment, it would be impossible to carry out the official work of a political party."

Joo Jin-woo argued, "The Political Parties Act requires a political party to have at least five provincial and metropolitan city branches, with at least 1,000 party members in each branch’s jurisdiction. If the Basic Income Party has not established at least five legitimate provincial and metropolitan city branches, that would constitute a violation of the Political Parties Act and clear grounds for canceling its registration."
He added, "If a party’s registration is canceled, that would naturally constitute grounds for removing a proportional-representation lawmaker, meaning Yong Hye-in would also lose her seat."
He also signaled plans to file criminal complaints over the use of state subsidies. Joo Jin-woo emphasized, "The Basic Income Party’s provincial and metropolitan city branches have received 150 million won in state subsidies this year alone. If the party inflated its membership numbers from the outset or falsely registered its office locations, it would be subject to punishment under the Political Parties Act. Taxes paid to locations with no actual activities could also constitute a serious violation of the Political Funds Act." He said he would immediately request investigations by the National Election Commission (NEC) and the police.

The Basic Income Party immediately pushed back against the People Power Party’s offensive. In a statement issued that day, the Basic Income Party countered, "The Basic Income Party’s provincial and metropolitan city branches were legitimately established after meeting all statutory requirements, and they have continued to conduct substantive local activities."
It dismissed the allegations, saying, "Raising claims that the party is a ‘ghost party’ or wasting taxpayers’ money—and even discussing cancellation of its registration—solely because residential addresses were registered as offices is an unjust political attack that ignores current law and actual local activities."
[email protected] Moon Young-jin Reporter