Ryu Ho-jeong: "Sim Sang-jung's Flood Recovery Photo Taken Early in Her Career"

"Not many photos after the beginning"
"I worked really hard and came back, but misunderstandings are upsetting"

Sim Sang-jung, leader of the Justice Party (right), and Ryu Ho-jeong, Justice Party lawmaker, are conducting landslide damage restoration work at a house in Yongsul-ri, Juksan-myeon, Anseong-si, Gyeonggi-do on the morning of the 7th. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] Regarding the criticism from netizens about the photos posted by Sim Sang-jung, leader of the Justice Party, at the flood recovery site, such as "clean T-shirt" and "why post certification shots," party member Ryu Ho-jeong stated, "There are upsetting aspects." The Justice Party released photos of Leader Sim engaged in recovery work with dirt on her clothes.

On the 12th, Representative Ryu appeared on KBS Radio's "Kim Kyung-rae's Strongest Current Affairs" and said, "There is controversy over the flood recovery site photos," adding, "She really worked hard and came back." She continued, "Reporters took photos at the early stage of the (flood recovery) activities, and there were actually not many photos after that."

This is interpreted as an explanation of netizens' criticism that Leader Sim's clothes were "too clean" in the photos she released from the flood recovery site.

When controversy arose over the so-called "intentional photo shooting at the flood recovery site," Senior Spokesperson Kim Jong-cheol issued a statement titled "Regret over the Report" on the 11th, saying, "Some media outlets wrote articles citing a few comments, implying that the photos were deleted because of controversy over 'clean clothes and boots,'" and expressed "deep regret."

He added, "Leader Sim's photos were posted briefly at the early stage of recovery activities, and the party officials who actually participated in the recovery support activities were too busy to properly take photos of Leader Sim's later recovery support," and reiterated, "The report that photos were deleted due to criticism about clean clothes and boots is a factually inaccurate article, and we express serious regret."

Senior Spokesperson Kim then released photos of Leader Sim and Representative Ryu working on recovery with dirt on their clothes and boots.

Earlier, on the 7th at 9:27 p.m., Leader Sim posted five photos on her Facebook showing recovery work at the flood site, stating, "Today, Justice Party lawmakers and party officials supported flood recovery work at a farm affected by a landslide in Juksan-myeon, Anseong City."

However, some netizens criticized the photos of the work, saying "It is inappropriate to take photos at the flood site." They responded critically toward Leader Sim and the Justice Party, saying, "You can volunteer purely, but taking photos diminishes the meaning," and "If you really did a good deed, those helped would let others know without promotion."

Some comments also pointed out Leader Sim's neat attire, questioning, "Is it possible for clothes and shoes to be clean even after shoveling soil?"

As the controversy spread, Leader Sim deleted the five photos on the 9th, leaving only a post.

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