'Fall Son Allegations' Spread Widely... Generation 20s and 30s Beyond Disappointment to Anger

Jeong Sye-gyun "Truly embarrassed to cause concern over Cabinet member's child issue"
20s turning away from government and ruling party over 'Choo Mi-ae incident'

Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae is entering the emergency cabinet meeting held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 10th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] Anger among people in their 20s and 30s is growing over allegations of special treatment during military leave for Seo Mo (27), son of Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae, during his military service. Following the Cho Kuk scandal, the controversy surrounding Minister Choo’s son has escalated, with young people who value the principle of 'fairness' expressing feelings of relative deprivation.

In particular, as the ruling party has not criticized but rather collectively defended Minister Choo, young people are labeling this as a 'second Cho Kuk scandal' and continuing their critical voices.

Earlier, Seo took his first sick leave from June 5 to 14, 2017, extended the sick leave until the 23rd, and then took an additional four days of personal leave before returning to his unit on the 27th, sparking allegations of special treatment.

Recently, records were revealed showing that one of Minister Choo and her husband filed a complaint with the Ministry of National Defense regarding Seo’s military leave, further intensifying the controversy.

According to documents recently disclosed through the media, Seo’s direct superior, Officer A, left a record on June 15, 2017, stating that "although the sick leave had ended, Seo inquired about the possibility of extending it further as he had not yet fully recovered."

Officer A wrote, "Before departure, I informed him that sick leave could be extended up to one month, but since he felt sorry to ask the support team leader directly, he consulted with his parents, and it was confirmed that his parents filed a complaint." This contradicts Minister Choo’s previous stance that she was not involved in her son’s leave.

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun is entering the emergency cabinet meeting held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 10th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

As allegations of special treatment during Minister Choo’s son’s military service continue to surface daily, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said, "I feel truly embarrassed that the issue involving a cabinet member’s child is causing concern to the public." This is interpreted as the ruling party’s first expression of regret since the allegations arose.

Prime Minister Chung appeared on JTBC Newsroom on the afternoon of the 10th and said, "The public is already struggling due to COVID-19 and various economic difficulties, so it is only right not to add to their worries with such issues."

Regarding the opposition party’s call for the establishment of a special investigation unit, he said, "Setting up a special investigation unit would require more time," and drew a line by stating, "It is appropriate for the prosecution currently conducting the investigation to conclude it quickly."

He added, "A considerable amount of time has passed since the prosecution began investigating this matter, and I am also frustrated as to why it has not been resolved yet," and said, "If the prosecution is not investigating, other methods could be considered to resolve the situation, but the realistic approach is for the prosecution to promptly conclude the investigation."

The youth responded with disbelief to Prime Minister Chung’s remarks. Instead of directly apologizing or expressing an opinion on the allegations against Minister Choo’s son, he used the term "embarrassed" to indirectly express regret. Especially for the 20s and 30s generation, who value the principle of 'fairness,' the ruling party’s 'defense of Choo Mi-ae' has instead deepened their sense of relative deprivation.

Office worker Kim (27) said, "I am angrier than during the Cho Kuk scandal. Isn’t this kind of special treatment allegation from high-ranking officials happening repeatedly? When the state corruption scandal broke out, I thought, 'Kids from wealthy families can live comfortably without effort.'" He added, "The controversy over Minister Choo’s son has made society very chaotic. Related allegations break out several times a day in the news. For men who are forced to serve in the military, these allegations might feel very disheartening."

He also criticized, "The ruling party has not properly explained or apologized so far," and regarding Prime Minister Chung’s remarks, he said, "The expression 'embarrassed' itself is ambiguous. It seems like a phrase used because they don’t want to apologize or admit the allegations."

Another office worker, Lee (28), also expressed frustration over the ongoing allegations of special treatment for children of those in power. Lee said, "Repeated incidents like this are even destroying trust in politics," and raised his voice, "If you investigate politicians’ children, there would be many more serious cases than this."

He emphasized, "When such issues arise, I hope the parties involved would at least apologize properly. They should not just brush it off with the attitude of 'time will solve it' and let it slide."

Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae is talking with Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang Kyung-wha at the extraordinary Cabinet meeting held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 10th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Meanwhile, recent public opinion polls show that support for President Moon Jae-in and the Democratic Party of Korea has declined simultaneously. As allegations related to Minister Choo’s son’s military service spread, support dropped sharply among men in their 20s.

According to a survey conducted by Realmeter commissioned by TBS from July 7 to 9, targeting 1,504 voters nationwide, President Moon’s approval rating for his administration’s performance was 45.7%, down 2.4 percentage points from the previous week.

President Moon’s approval rating fell among age groups 20s (down 5.7 percentage points to 33.3%) and 50s (down 4.1 percentage points to 44.7%), and by gender, it dropped sharply among men (down 9.0 percentage points to 39.8%).

By party, support for the Democratic Party fell 4.1 percentage points to 33.7%, while the People Power Party rose 1.8 percentage points to 32.8%. The gap between the two parties narrowed to 0.9 percentage points, entering the margin of error for the first time in four weeks.

Notably, both President Moon and the Democratic Party saw significant loss of support among men, people in their 20s and 50s, and students. Realmeter analyzed that "the impact of the allegations of special treatment during Minister Choo’s son’s military service appears to have influenced this."

The survey was conducted using a mixed method of landline and mobile random digit dialing (RDD) with telephone interviews and automated responses. Statistical adjustments were made based on gender, age, and region weighting according to the resident registration population statistics from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety as of the end of July this year. The sampling error is ±2.5 percentage points at a 95% confidence level, with a response rate of 5%.

Detailed survey methodology and results can be found on the Realmeter website or the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission website.

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