Seoul City Council’s Special Ethics Committee decided to expel Kim Kyung, an independent council member representing Gangseo 1, who expressed his intention to resign over allegations of “nomination donations.” According to the council, the Ethics Committee held a full meeting on the 27th and passed the proposal for Kim’s expulsion. Out of the 15 seats on the committee, a total of 12 members attended, including 9 from the People Power Party and 3 from the Democratic Party of Korea, and all attending members agreed to the expulsion. Expulsion is the highest level of disciplinary action that can be imposed on an elected city council member.
Shin Dong-won, the chairman of the Ethics Committee, stated after the meeting with reporters, “Council member Kim has clearly admitted to the core fact of accepting nomination donations, allowing us to confirm the facts. We determined that he violated the duty of integrity and maintaining dignity as stipulated by Article 44, Paragraph 2 of the Local Autonomy Act.”
He continued, “Considering the significant damage caused to the integrity and morality expected of a representative of the residents, as well as the serious impact on the status of the Seoul City Council and public trust, the Ethics Committee put the matter to a vote and decided on his expulsion.”
It was reported that Kim did not attend the meeting to justify the allegations. The Ethics Committee satisfied the requirement of a majority of both the total members present and attending members agreeing to the disciplinary proposal.
Whether Kim is ultimately expelled will be decided in the next month’s plenary session. The 334th extraordinary session is scheduled to be held from February 24 to March 13, and for the expulsion to proceed, more than two-thirds of the sitting members must agree.
Despite Kim expressing his intention to voluntarily resign on the 26th, a day before the Ethics Committee meeting, Cho Ho-jung, the chairman of the Seoul City Council from the People Power Party, did not process his resignation letter, and the meeting proceeded as planned. Expulsion leaves a record of disciplinary action, which is a dishonorable discharge, while voluntary resignation does not leave an official record of disciplinary action.
The disciplinary request against Kim was initiated by Chairman Shin on the 13th and includes a total of five misconduct cases: acceptance of nomination donations, failure to report official overseas activities and abuse of authority, illegal change of party membership, proxy payments of party fees, mobilization of party members, and misappropriation and false reporting of business expenses.