People Power Party (PPP) Supreme Council member Cho Kwang-han and Rep. Chung Sung-kook continued their public feud on social media Wednesday, a day after clashing at the party's general meeting over the expulsion of former party leader Han Dong-hoon.
Rep. Chung, aligned with the pro-Han faction, explained the conflict on his Facebook page. "Several lawmakers and I raised concerns about a non-parliamentary Supreme Council member attending and speaking at the general meeting without prior notice to members," he wrote. "We had reason to suspect the motive behind allowing Supreme Council members who actively supported former Chairman Han's expulsion to attend the meeting."
He added that he initially accepted the floor leader's decision and watched Cho deliver his remarks. "After finishing his speech, Supreme Council member Cho pointed his finger at me while leaving the meeting hall and made a provocative remark: 'Hey you, come out here' — the kind of language you'd only hear in a back alley. I couldn't just let it go, so I followed him out and strongly protested. Even in that process, I did not use any vulgar language," Chung said.
Cho disputed Chung's account. "I did not use the expression 'hey you,'" he said. "I pointed out what was wrong in response to Rep. Chung's shouting 'How dare you come in here' and then left."
Cho continued: "When I said to Rep. Chung 'Let's go outside and talk,' he responded with 'How dare you speak to a National Assembly member like that.' Facing his consistently arrogant and rude attitude, the exact words I said were 'Why don't you step outside' — that was all."
PPP non-parliamentary district committee chairs held a press conference Wednesday calling for Rep. Chung's resignation. "Ignoring even the party constitution and rules to jeer at a Supreme Council member, who is part of the party leadership, with words like 'How dare you' destroys party order," they said.
"We define the arrogant and disrespectful behavior Rep. Chung showed toward Supreme Council member Cho at yesterday's general meeting as an insult to all of us non-parliamentary district committee chairs," they added. "If Rep. Chung does not offer a sincere apology and take responsible action, we will unite with party members to hold him politically and ethically accountable to the end."
