Song Young-gil's 'Gireogi Family' Slip Prompts People Power Party Response: "Apology Meaningless... Fear of Power Holder's Ignorance"

Controversy Over Song's Remarks at KEPCO Establishment Site
"Virtually Zero Awareness of the Reality Faced by Families"

Song Young-gil, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea (center), is speaking at the real estate status briefing held at the National Assembly representative office on the 4th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] On the 8th, the People Power Party strongly criticized Song Young-gil, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, for saying, "Gireogi husbands drink alone and pass away, while wives have affairs and families break apart," stating that his awareness of the real issues facing families is virtually zero.

Hong Jong-gi, deputy spokesperson of the People Power Party, released a statement that day, saying, "It is understandable that someone like Leader Song, who has spent his comfortable life serving five terms as a lawmaker and as a metropolitan mayor since his youth, does not understand gireogi families," and sarcastically added, "He probably thinks that to learn English, one can just enroll in an international school or go on a pleasant trip abroad."

Earlier, Leader Song, during a visit to the site for the establishment of Korea Energy Engineering University (KEEU) in Naju, Jeollanam-do, emphasized the necessity of establishing an international school in the Naju Innovation City, saying, "When I was a re-elected lawmaker, I proposed to President Roh Moo-hyun that many Koreans send their children and even their wives to study abroad in the Philippines, Australia, or the United States just to learn English, resulting in families living apart. Some husbands living alone have even passed away while drinking alone."

He continued, "Also, some wives have had affairs, leading to broken families. Since gireogi families have become a social problem, I proposed creating a foreign language school here in Korea, in an environment like the U.S., instead of going to the U.S. to learn English, and it was established."

Deputy spokesperson Hong also argued, "The fundamental reason Korean parents send their precious children and spouses to distant foreign countries is not simply to teach their children English, as Leader Song perceives," and stated, "It is the distrust in fairness and justice in our society, and structural problems such as employment, marriage, childcare, and housing issues that their children will soon face, which have caused normal families to be separated."

He pointed out that the ruling party and government are responsible for creating gireogi families, yet they disparaged the victims. He added, "In this situation, demanding an apology from Leader Song is meaningless because he is not even aware of reality."

He went on to say, "Ignorance of those in power is more frightening than reckless remarks made knowingly," emphasizing, "As long as he exists as a leader, there is no possibility for this society to improve."

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