The main opposition People Power Party(PPP) has suspended for one year the party membership rights of Rep. Bae Hyun-jin who heads the party's Seoul Metropolitan chapter. 

The party's central ethics committee unveiled the disciplinary action against Bae, who is considered a close associate of former PPP chair Han Dong-hoon who was expelled last month. 

As reason for suspending Bae's party membership, the committee cited the controversy that erupted after Bae captured and uploaded online a photo of a minor believed to be a family member of a netizen who she held a heated debate with online over the nomination of Lee Hye-hoon as budget minister. 

With the committee decision, Bae has been stripped of her position as the party's Seoul Metropolitan chapter, a post tasked with leading party nominations for the Seoul area ahead of the June local elections. This means she will lose her candidate nomination rights for the upcoming local elections.

The committee's decision was met with strong protest from pro-Han lawmakers and young party members.