The ethics committee of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) failed to come to a decision Monday regarding disciplinary measures for two Supreme Council members accused of making a series of controversial remarks.
The panel held a third meeting to hear from Kim Jae-won and Rep. Tae Yong-ho and discuss what measures to take against them.
After five hours of discussion, the committee decided to convene again Wednesday after verifying additional facts, Hwang Jeong-geun, committee chair, said.
Kim was referred to the committee for remarks seen as slighting victims of two historical events -- the bloody 1948-1954 suppression of a civil revolt on Jeju Island and the 1980 pro-democracy uprising in the southwestern city of Gwangju.
Kim was also accused of lauding Jun Kwang-hoon, an ultra right-wing pastor.
Tae, a North Korean defector-turned-lawmaker, was referred to the committee in part for displaying what critics say was a distorted history perception by insisting that the civil uprising on Jeju was obviously triggered on the instruction of North Korea's late national founder, Kim Il-sung.
He has also been under criticism over a phone conversation he had with senior presidential political affairs secretary Lee Jin-bok, in which Lee allegedly asked Tae to make remarks in support of Korea-Japan relations while talking about the issue of party nominations for next year's general elections.
Tae talked about Lee's alleged request during a meeting with his aides, and a local media outlet revealed the transcript of Tae's remarks recorded by one of the aides. Tae has since denied Lee made such a request, saying he made an exaggeration of what was said during the call with Lee.
He also came under fire after branding the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) as "JMS DP," referring to JMS, a controversial religious group embroiled in a series of sexual harassment cases involving its leader. Tae said J stands for junk, M for money, and S for sex.
Tae, Pyongyang's former deputy ambassador to Britain, defected to South Korea in 2016 and was elected as a lawmaker here in 2020, becoming the first North Korean defector to do so.
The PPP runs a four-tier disciplinary system, which ranges from a warning to a maximum 3-year suspension in party membership, a recommendation to leave the party and an expulsion.
The two lawmakers could be barred from running in next year's parliamentary elections if they are given a one-year party membership suspension or heavier disciplinary measures.
Source: Yonhap News Agency