"Person with a Twisted Mind is Disabled" Korean Party Criticizes Lee Hae-chan While Belittling Disabled People

Lee Hae-chan "Congenital disabled people have weak will"
Liberty Korea Party urges Lee Hae-chan to resign
Park Yong-chan "People with wrong ideas are disabled"

On the 15th, Lee Hae-chan, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, appeared on the party's official YouTube channel "Sseum"/Photo by Democratic Party of Korea YouTube screen capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ga-yeon] Amid Lee Hae-chan, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, making disparaging remarks about people with disabilities, the Liberty Korea Party criticized him and called for his resignation. However, during this process, another controversy arose due to further disparaging remarks about people with disabilities.

Park Yong-chan, spokesperson for the Liberty Korea Party, issued a statement on the 15th, saying, "At this point, it’s not just twisted but broken perception," and criticized, "Disparagement of people with disabilities is ingrained in his very bones."

Spokesperson Park said, "This is not the first time Lee has made disparaging remarks about people with disabilities. In 2018, he also belittled people with mental disabilities by saying, 'There are so many mentally disabled people in politics that it makes you wonder if they are normal,'" adding, "If the party leader holds such views, what use is it to recruit talented people?"

He continued, "We urge him to publicly apologize to the people with disabilities in the Republic of Korea and take responsibility by stepping down from his position as leader."

Finally, Spokesperson Park said, "And I want to make it clear to the leader: a person with physical difficulties is not a disabled person. It is those with twisted minds and wrong thoughts who are truly disabled."

Spokesperson Park’s final remark sparked another controversy for disparaging people with disabilities again. This was because he equated "people with twisted minds and wrong thoughts" with disabled people. In criticizing Lee’s disparaging remarks about people with disabilities, he ironically used the word "disabled" as a derogatory expression.

Democratic Party leader Lee Hae-chan is holding a New Year's press conference on the morning of the 16th at the party leader's meeting room in the National Assembly, Yeouido, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

The National Solidarity for the Elimination of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities (Jeonjangyeon) issued a statement condemning the discriminatory remarks made by Lee and Spokesperson Park on the same day.

Jeonjangyeon said, "We hope Lee Hae-chan, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, will stop making discriminatory remarks against people with disabilities," and criticized, "We ask Lee Hae-chan not to exploit Professor Choi Hye-young, the first recruit recently introduced by the Democratic Party, for political gain, and that silence might be somewhat helpful."

Regarding Spokesperson Park’s disparaging remarks about people with disabilities, they said, "While criticizing Lee Hae-chan’s discriminatory remarks against people with disabilities, the Liberty Korea Party, which ended with discriminatory remarks itself, should also stop making discriminatory remarks against people with disabilities," and pointed out, "Whether it is leader Hwang Kyo-ahn or spokesperson Park Yong-chan, their ignorance about the concept of disability and the human rights of people with disabilities is no different from Lee Hae-chan’s."

Jeonjangyeon urged, "We call on Lee Hae-chan, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and the Liberty Korea Party to immediately apologize to the 2.5 million people with disabilities," adding, "We hope they receive proper education, not just formal human rights training for people with disabilities."

Earlier that day, Lee appeared on the Democratic Party’s official YouTube channel "Sseum." During the introduction of Professor Choi Hye-young from Kangdong University, who has a spinal cord injury, Lee said, "Congenital disabled people have disabilities from a young age and are said to have weak willpower. But those who became disabled due to accidents originally had dreams of living a normal life and are said to have strong willpower."

When controversy arose over this remark, Lee apologized, saying, "I quoted a psychologist, but such a quotation itself was an inappropriate remark that could hurt many people with disabilities," and "I sincerely apologize to all people with disabilities."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.