South Korea’s ruling conservative People Power Party (PPP) decided Friday to suspend the party membership of its leader Lee Jun-seok for six months over allegations of sexual bribery.
The PPP ethics committee made the decision after a nearly eight-hour marathon deliberation, dealing a great blow at the political life of the 38-year-old leader and throw the governing party into big confusion, Yonhap news agency reported.
Lee allegedly received sexual services from a businessman in 2013, while attempting to cover it up earlier this year after the allegations were raised in December last year.
Police has separately investigated the allegations apart from the PPP’s disciplinary process.
Lee is allowed to appeal against the ethics committee’s decision within 10 days. The suspended party membership is the second-lowest discipline in the party’s four-tier disciplinary system.
The PPP leader said in a local radio that he had no willingness to voluntarily step down, vowing to take all possible measures such as an action to invoke authority as the party chief to put the decision on hold.
Kweon Seong-dong, floor leader of the PPP, told local reporters that Lee’s party chairmanship was already suspended as the disciplinary decision immediately took effect.
Lee was elected the PPP chair in June last year on strong support from young men especially in their 20s and 30s, becoming the country’s first politician to lead a major political party in his 30s.
Under Lee’s leadership, the PPP won the presidential election in March and local elections in June, but Lee has been reportedly at odds with party members close to President Yoon Suk-yeol who took office on May 10. (ANI/Xinhua)
