Park Ji-won is a writer for The Korea Times who has been covering a wide range of topics from Korea’s culture to its politics. An avid journalism enthusiast to the core, Ji-won brings a thoughtful and unique perspective to every topic she covers. On weekends, you'll often find her contemplating life’s purpose on a yoga mat — with a cup of quality tea in hand. A native Korean speaker by birth and fluent in English through her work, she went to college in Japan and is learning Chinese and French — hoping to add Polish, Russian and Thai to the mix.
DPK decides not to discipline indicted Gyeonggi governor
Rep. Lee Hae-chan, the chairman of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), speaks during a supreme council meeting at the National Assembly, Wednesday. Lee announced the party decided not to take punitive measures against its party member, indicted Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung, for the sake of party unity. / Yonhap
By Park Ji-won
By Park Ji-won
The supreme council of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) decided not to take disciplinary action against Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung over his indictment on charges of violating the election law.
“We came to the decision to accept Lee's determination for the party's unity,” DPK leader Lee Hae-chan said Wednesday after a series of meetings of the DPK's leadership body.
“We will, however, keep a close eye on court proceedings.”
The decision came after Lee, who has been considered a potential presidential candidate, was indicted Tuesday on two charges of lying during the June election campaign and institutionalizing his brother without his consent.
The party has not made an official comment regarding the issue ahead of a court decision amid mixed reactions over whether to oust Lee.
Some insisted he be kicked out of the DPK as he is tarnishing the party's reputation, while some insisted it is unfair for him to be sacked citing another indicted governor, Kim Kyoung-soo, remains at his post within the party.
Following the prosecution's decision, the governor of Gyeonggi Province claimed innocence and pledged to keep his governor position. Later on Facebook, he also wrote of his determination to resign from his current positions within the party and keep his party membership as an ordinary member.
Meanwhile, the party also announced its position on electoral reform, which became one of the key controversial issues at the Assembly between big and small parties.
“We basically agree with the overall direction of the introduction of the new electoral system that includes a proportional representation system and propose five parties to agree with its direction and come up with detailed measures at the Assembly political reform committee,” said Rep. Yun Ho-jung, secretary general of the DPK.
“We will push for an extension to the committee's activity, coming up with an agreement by January and putting it to a vote in the Assembly in February.”
The leaders of two minor opposition parties continued their hunger strike for the seventh consecutive day, Wednesday, failing to narrow differences with the two biggest parties over details of a new electoral reform system.
Smaller parties have been calling for the new proportional representation system that is viewed as more advantageous to minor parties, while the big parties are reluctant to do so.