PPP ethics committee suspends membership rights of 4 lawmakers

The opposition People Power Party (PPP) took disciplinary action against four of its own lawmakers on Thursday, suspending their membership rights. This move effectively prevents three of them from participating in the upcoming 2028 general elections. The PPP's ethics committee imposed the sanctions, with Rep. Cho Kyung-tae facing a two and a half year ban, while Reps. Jin Jong-oh, Kwon Young-jin, and Suh Bum-soo each received suspensions of two years, one and a half years, and six months, respectively.

These lawmakers are effectively barred from seeking re-election in April 2028 due to their suspension from the PPP ticket. All four individuals have been reported to have conflicts with PPP leader Rep. Jang Dong-hyeok. Rep. Cho was accused of making phone calls to lawmakers from other parties in an attempt to block Rep. Park Duk-hyun, a fellow PPP member, from being elected deputy speaker of the National Assembly.

Reps. Kwon and Jin were accused of different transgressions. Kwon was separately charged with grabbing PPP floor leader Jeong Jeom-sig by the collar during a protest over parliamentary committee assignments. Meanwhile, Jin was penalized for supporting an independent candidate named Han Dong-hoon.