Rep. Bae Hyun-jin of the People Power Party (PPP) filed for a court injunction on Tuesday to suspend her one-year party membership suspension imposed for posting a child's photo on social media without consent.
The move follows a similar filing by former Supreme Council member Kim Jong-hyuk, who was expelled from the party. The legal challenges signal that internal disciplinary conflicts targeting pro-Han Duck-soo faction figures are escalating into courtroom battles.
Bae submitted her injunction request to the Seoul Southern District Court. "I stand here today because I repeatedly urged the party to break from the failed martial law and the Yoon Suk Yeol era and return to sound conservatism," she said. "I intend to use the power of Korea's rule of law to overturn this discipline, which was designed to cut me out for being inconvenient to the Yoon era and the Jang Dong-hyuk leadership they sought to protect."
The PPP's Central Ethics Committee voted on December 13 to suspend Bae's party membership for one year, citing "violation of children's rights" as the primary reason. The committee found fault with Bae for capturing and posting in a comment thread a photo of a child believed to be a family member of an online user during a social media exchange.
Bae chose to file for a court injunction rather than appeal to the ethics committee. "I determined there was no point in requesting a review from the same ethics committee that issued this unjust ruling," she explained.
While acknowledging her response in posting the child's photo was excessive, Bae maintained the discipline was unwarranted. "I told the ethics committee that I feel remorse and apologize for my overreaction," she said. "But branding this as harming children's rights to strip me of my position as Seoul city party chairwoman—when I'm preparing for nominations and the Seoul election—is inappropriate punishment."
Former Supreme Council member Kim, who was automatically expelled after receiving a "recommendation to leave the party" sanction, has also filed for an injunction. "I will fight to the end against attempts to turn the People Power Party into a 'far-right paradise' by those following the Yoon Suk Yeol line," he said.