"Rice Bows Its Head as It Ripens," Says Jeong Sye-gyun; Kim Woong Responds, "That's Why We Live One Year and Die"

Former Prime Minister and Democratic Party presidential candidate Jeong Sye-gyun is giving a greeting at the "Dialogue between Former Prime Minister Jeong Sye-gyun and Small Business Owners" held at the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 26th of last month.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Soyoung] Kim Woong, a member of the People Power Party, publicly criticized former Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, who has been fiercely criticizing Lee Jun-seok, the People Power Party's presidential candidate.

On the 1st, Kim posted on his Facebook, "The rice plant bows its head the more it ripens. That's why it lives for only one year and then dies," beginning his statement.

He continued, "The cedar tree, no matter how small, never bows, which is why it grows dozens of meters tall."

This is interpreted as a response to Chung's post on Facebook on the 31st, where he said, "If there are suspicions of corruption or crime, let's eradicate them. That is young politics. Be young and clean politicians," and targeted candidate Lee by saying, "The rice plant bows its head the more it ripens."

Kim also criticized Chung's recent remarks one after another, saying, "'Old-fashioned politics' that think 'fewer guests means comfort,' 'kowtowing politics' that praise illegal nuclear power plant closures, all of these must now be completely overturned."

Earlier, Chung criticized Lee's remark about having "three silk pouches" to fend off suspicions regarding Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol's relatives, saying, "I doubted my ears," and added, "The young man who talked about young politics is now talking about typical old-fashioned political manipulation."

Recently, Chung has been continuously throwing checks against the strong 'Lee Jun-seok whirlwind.' On the 25th of last month, appearing on TBS Radio's 'Kim Eo-jun's News Factory,' Chung said, "We need to focus party power into one, but doesn't our country have a special culture? Jang-yu-yu-seo (respect for elders) is also part of this culture," and added, "The People Power Party must be having many concerns."

Candidate Lee Jun-seok, who is running for the People Power Party leadership election, is presenting his vision at the People Power Party's 1st National Convention Vision Presentation held at Nurikkum Square in Mapo-gu, Seoul, on the 25th of last month. [Image source=Yonhap News]

In response, candidate Lee said, "What I mean by fair competition is to remove Jang-yu-yu-seo from the exam subjects," and directly criticized, "If that is included in the exam subjects, it excludes the younger generation from the start."

He added, "Last time, when I ran for the Bareunmirae Party leadership election, I induced the term 'Dongbang Yeui Jigu-guk' (Land of Courtesy in the East), and this time it's Jang-yu-yu-seo."

When the Jang-yu-yu-seo remark sparked controversy over being 'old-fashioned,' Chung explained, "I positively evaluated the Lee Jun-seok phenomenon, but during the presidential election management process, from the People Power Party's perspective as a conservative party, I added a comment that considering a culture like Jang-yu-yu-seo, there might be concerns." He added, "It is frustrating and regrettable that the original intent was overlooked and only a specific word was highlighted, amplifying misunderstandings."

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