Women's Party "President Lee Boo-jin! Just 100 Million" Ad Controversy Leads to Eventual 'Apology' (Comprehensive)

[Asia Economy Reporter Shinwon Yoon] On the 8th, International Women's Day, the newly founded "Women’s Party," which positions itself as a party for women, apologized after controversy arose over allegations of violating the Political Funds Act by soliciting donations from prominent business figures through a fundraising campaign.

On the 11th, the Preparatory Committee for the Women’s Party posted an apology statement from the seven co-representatives on their official Twitter account, stating, "We sincerely apologize for causing misunderstandings due to provocative advertising expressions intended to raise awareness related to the 'Heebi Viral' posted on the Women’s Party Twitter account on the 10th."

Previously, the Preparatory Committee posted an advertisement poster on their Twitter account mentioning Lee Boo-jin, President of Hotel Shilla, with the phrase, "President Lee Boo-jin! Please return just 100 million won so we can buy more Shilla Hotel Apple Mango Bingsu! Invest in the future of Korean women."

They also mentioned Chung Yong-jin, Vice Chairman of Shinsegae Group; Lee Mi-kyung, Vice Chairman of CJ; Chung Tae-young, Vice Chairman of Hyundai Card; and Chung Yoo-kyung, President of Shinsegae, making the same request.

Additionally, they said, "We urgently seek landlords in Mapo-gu, Yeongdeungpo-gu, and Yeouido-dong," and "Please lend us your property for just three months so we can establish our party headquarters. Fill your vacancies with future power."

Notably, the poster included a personal bank account number, leading some to claim that this could be a violation of the Political Funds Act. According to the Act, political funds can only be donated to parties through registered support committees or the election commission.

The Preparatory Committee explained, "Although we succeeded in founding the party, we felt limitations in raising funds for securing party headquarters and producing campaign materials, which created a sense of crisis that we might not be able to conduct elections properly. This led us to release such an advertisement." They added, "Instead of explaining our desperate situation, we decided to try a different strategy."

They further explained, "Despite wage and gender gaps, women account for 85% of total consumption and are the main customers in the food and beverage, dining, performance, publishing, and hotel industries. We intended to send a message to the owners of various companies benefiting from women to invest in the Women’s Party for a better life for women. We acknowledge that the advertising expression was not careful enough and apologize once again."

Currently, the Women’s Party is reportedly in the process of establishing an official support committee.

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