The main opposition People Power Party’s(PPP) ethics committee has decided to expel former party leader Han Dong-hoon over allegations that his family posted defamatory comments about former President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife on the party’s online forum.

In a notice to the press in the early hours of Wednesday, the ethics committee said that the postings, linked to his family, constitute serious violations of the party’s constitution, regulations and ethical code as they showed organization and were not merely published on impulse.

The panel said Han should take not only ethical responsibility for his family’s actions that harmed the party, but also political responsibility for failing to prevent the online postings from triggering an internal conflict within the party, resulting in a loss of public support and trust.

Han, in response, said the committee has fabricated the facts. 

Expulsion is the toughest measure on the PPP’s four-point scale for disciplinary actions, and the matter may be finalized at a Supreme Council meeting set for Thursday.