SEOUL: Rep Choi Min-hee, a two-term lawmaker of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, has been reprimanded by the party's ethics panel over alleged acts of improper solicitation and abuse of power.
The liberal party's ethics panel found that Choi violated her duty to maintain dignity as a lawmaker.
A warning is the lightest of the four disciplinary actions the party can impose on its lawmakers. Her warning will be finalised after the party's supreme council approves the independent panel's decision.
The Democratic Party's senior spokesperson Rep Park Soo-hyun said Friday (Feb 13) that Choi will be formally reprimanded on Feb 23.
Choi came under fire for sending invitations to her daughter's wedding to officials who were subject to last year's annual parliamentary inspection by the National Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee, which Choi chaired.
She was also under scrutiny for accepting cash gifts from the officials at the wedding, with some reportedly giving up to 1 million won (US$693) each.
Fueling the controversy further was the fact that her daughter's wedding took place at the National Assembly on Oct 18, in the middle of the annual parliamentary inspection period.
Choi has denied that she solicited cash gifts from officials under her committee's scrutiny, adding that she had been too preoccupied with the parliamentary inspection to focus on her daughter's wedding.
Choi also said she had returned the cash gifts to the officials targeted in the inspection.
But a complaint was filed against Choi in October over her alleged violation of the Improper Solicitation Act and for abuse of power.
Police conducted search and seizure operations related to the case at the National Assembly in January. - The Korea Herald/ANN
