Attention is paid to the Southern District Court that cited Bae Hyun-jin’s injunction… Leadership: ‘Similar conclusions will not be reached’

The ruling on the application for a temporary injunction filed by Rep. Seo Beom-soo and Jin Jong-oh to the court in protest of the disciplinary action of 'suspension of party membership' from the People Power Party's Central Ethics Committee is expected to be made as early as the 7th.

According to the political circles on the 5th, the case of the two lawmakers was assigned to the 51st Civil Agreement Department of the Seoul Southern District Court (Chief Judge Kwon Seong-soo), and the 7th was designated as the hearing date. If there is no need for additional questioning surrounding the disciplinary action, the hearing of the preliminary injunction case is usually concluded on the first hearing date.

Previously, the court decided to cite all applications for provisional injunctions filed last March by Rep. Bae Hyun-jin and former Supreme Council member Kim Jong-hyuk of the pro-Han Dong-hoon faction, asking to stop the disciplinary action received from the People Power Party's Ethics Committee.

Accordingly, CEO Jang Dong-hyuk, a former judge, expressed his dissatisfaction with the judiciary in an unusual manner at the highest level last April, saying, "Cases requesting provisional injunctions related to the People Power Party have been allocated only to the 51st Division of the Civil Agreement, where Presiding Judge Kwon Seong-soo is located."

Afterwards, he repeatedly went on the offensive on Facebook, saying, "It is difficult to understand why the Seoul Southern District Court, which has jurisdiction over the National Assembly, is doing something that will be misunderstood."

Some say that the possibility that a decision to cite Rep. Seo and Jin's request for a preliminary injunction cannot be ruled out again.

This is because the court has a high level of understanding of the People Power Party's duties by handling previous ethics committee cases, and there have been claims by those subject to disciplinary action that there was a lack of procedural legitimacy during the ethics committee discussions.

For example, Rep. Seo met with reporters after filing an application for a preliminary injunction with the Southern District Court on the 16th of last month and claimed, "The Ethics Committee never disclosed who the disciplinary members who participated in the deliberation were. I belatedly saw the reason for requesting retrial and secretly sent the list, but that does not cure the procedural defects. I could not even exercise my right to request recusal, which should have been guaranteed if there was an unfair member, because I did not even know who the member was."

The factional conflict within the party, which seemed to have been dormant for a while, is expected to reignite depending on the judiciary's judgment.

If the provisional injunction is upheld, it is the Jang Dong-hyuk regime that will suffer.

It is expected that the leadership, which is supposed to unify the party, will not be free from internal criticism that the ethics committee has been reduced to a tool for political purge of opponents.

One lawmaker, Chin-gye, gave a strong reaction to Yonhap News, saying, “If the judiciary determines that the Ethics Committee’s disciplinary action against Reps. Seo and Jin is excessive, they should immediately protest in front of the party representative’s office to resign.”

Conversely, if the decision to dismiss is made, there is a possibility that the party faction will launch a counterattack by opening fire on the non-party faction.

If the judiciary sides with the Ethics Committee, Rep. Seo will be subject to a 10-month suspension of party membership, and Rep. Jin will be subject to a 2-year suspension of party membership.

Among these, Rep. Jin's political life is at risk as he is effectively restricted from running as a People Power Party candidate in the April 2028 general election, which is one year and six months away.

Rep. Seo will suffer a fatal injury as his position as chairman of the Ulsan City Party Committee, which he took office in August, will continue to be suspended, and his position as chairman of the Ulsan and Ulju Party Committee will also be in jeopardy.

However, the leadership is confident that the Ethics Committee has made efforts to ensure procedural feasibility, taking into account the possibility of a court injunction.

Chief Spokesperson Park Seong-hoon met with reporters at the National Assembly that day and said, "I understand that the Ethics Committee and the Party Audit Office have done their best to ensure procedural integrity. We will have to receive the court decision, but I do not expect a conclusion similar to the past."