DISCIPLINARY ACTION AGAINST KWEON

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The ruling party's ethics committee has begun procedures to take disciplinary action against former Floor Leader Kweon Seong-dong for holding a drinking party at the PPP's workshop last month. But the committee did not discuss whether or not to impose an extra penalty on the ousted chairman Le Jun-seok. It plans to call in both Lee and Kweon early next month for a disciplinary hearing.

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The ruling party's central ethics committee decided to open a disciplinary process against Kweon Seong-dong. The committee intends to deliberate whether the floor leader breached the duty of maintaining dignity, after being found to be drinking with reporters at a party workshop held late last month.

[Soundbite] Lee Yang-hee(Chair, PPP Ethics Committee) : "Kweon was found to be drinking and singing during the party lawmakers’ workshop on Aug. 25, despite the party's abstinence order amid the internal emergency."

The ethics committee also handed down a heavy punishment for Kim Sung-won by suspending his party membership for six months, as he came under fire for making insensitive remarks over flooding in the nation back in August. The committee accused Kim of making the people turn their backs on the ruling bloc.

[Soundbite] Lee Yang-hee(Chair, PPP Ethics Committee) : "Kim hurts the party’s honor by making insensitive remarks during a visit to a flood-hit region, such as ‘More rain would make photos better’."

The committee chair gave a grave warning to Kwon Eun-hee for strongly opposing the plan to set up a police bureau at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and proposing to impeach Interior Minister Lee Sang-min. "Grave warning" is not included in punishment. The ethics committee ordered her to refrain from activities that go beyond the permissible scope for party members. It also decided to ban Kim Hee-kuk from running in a party race and suspend his duties as a party official until a court delivers a final ruling over allegations of receiving political donations in splits. But the ethics committee did not discuss penalizing Lee Jun-seok in the meeting that lasted over five hours. Instead, it will request the ousted Chairman and Kweon Seong-dong to attend its general meeting set for October 6. Penalties for the duo will likely be decided at the session, as committee chair Lee Yang-hee's term ends on October 14.