On January 20, the Southern District Court in Seoul granted an injunction to suspend the disciplinary action against Kim Jong-hyuk, a former senior member of the ruling People Power Party (PPP). This ruling comes after a similar decision made for Bae Hyun-jin, another member of the party, who had previously filed an injunction against a disciplinary action taken by the party. The court stated that the effect of the disciplinary action against Kim would be halted until a final ruling is delivered in the case.

The disciplinary actions taken against both Kim and Bae stemmed from their criticisms of the party leadership and other members. The Central Ethics Committee of the PPP disciplined Kim for violating duties of maintaining decorum and executing his role by using harsh terms such as "delusional virus" and "fascistic" to criticize the party leader and other party members. After failing to submit a statement of withdrawal, Kim was expelled from the party on September 9.

During a pre-trial hearing on the injunction, Kim's legal representatives argued that just as citizens have the right to criticize the President, party members should have the right to critique their political party. They claimed that the disciplinary action violated constitutional rights to freedom of expression. This line of reasoning resonates with earlier rulings where the court found that the PPP had not thoroughly reviewed the facts in the cases of its disciplinary actions, thus raising questions about the legitimacy of these internal party proceedings.