South Korea: The decision to remove former leader Han Dong-hoon is causing an internal divide inside the major opposition party

South Korea: The ethics committee of the People Power Party (PPP), the major opposition party in South Korea, voted on Wednesday to remove former leader Han Dong-hoon due to accusations that his family had written disparaging remarks about former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol. This decision seemed to be escalating an internal schism within the PPP.

Han will be expelled for conduct judged “extremely damaging to the party” and for breaking party regulations in ways that impede the PPP’s growth and badly impact public perception, the ethics panel said in a late-night hearing on Tuesday.

On a message board of the PPP’s website, Han’s family is accused of posting disparaging remarks about Yoon, who was removed due to his unsuccessful attempt to impose martial rule, and his wife, Kim Keon Hee.

Ahead of the local elections on June 3, Jang Dong-hyeok, the current leader of the PPP, has attempted to disassociate the party from Yoon. This has resulted to the expulsion.

The committee’s decision caused a rift among PPP MPs, with Han supporters condemning the vote as politically driven, according to Yonhap news agency.

The expulsion of Han has ‘no legality,’ according to Rep. Woo Jae-jun, a member of the party’s youth supreme council, who described it as’retaliation’ against Han for having backed Yoon’s impeachment.

One of the party members who rejected Yoon’s order on the night of martial rule and ultimately backed his impeachment was Han, who had previously been close to Yoon.

Han wrote a brief statement on his Facebook site shortly after the judgment was made, stating that he will “defend democracy together with the people.”

Han called the party’s action “another” proclamation of martial rule during a news conference, and he promised to work with the public and party members to stop it “once again.”Han said, “At a time when we must overcome the previous martial law and move toward unity, another martial law has been declared that destroys the Constitution and democracy,” but he did not intend to submit a request for reconsideration.

Facebook posts by Representative Song Seok-jun said that “(The decision marks) the death of democracy within the party.”

In the meanwhile, other party leaders supported the panel’s decision.According to Yonhap news agency, Rep. Shin Dong-wook said on a local radio show that “there was a broad consensus within the party that this issue had dragged on too long and that we needed to come to a conclusion.” He urged the leadership’s efforts to avoid further escalation of the internal schism.

Rep. Kim Jae-won claimed the ruling ended the “Yoon Suk Yeol era” on a local broadcaster’s YouTube channel and encouraged the party to “start fresh.”

The committee’s decision was also endorsed by PPP media spokeswoman Park Min-young, who emphasized that “manipulation of public opinion is not democracy.”

The move has sparked worries that the growing dispute may alienate conservative supporters and hurt the party in the next municipal elections.

Han will be expelled and have his party membership revoked under the ethics committee’s four-tier disciplinary procedure, which goes from the lowest of warning to the highest of expulsion.

The committee observed that Han acknowledged in public that he only learned of his family’s participation in the postings after the fact.

As early as January 26, a supreme council meeting is anticipated to decide on Han’s expulsion.