[Comprehensive] Criticism Flood in Political Circles Over Yoon Seok-yeol's Remark on 'Women’s Spots'... "Building Unfavorability"

Kim Jin-ae "Strange Talent for Creating Veto Layers"
Lee Jae-myung's Camp "Chronic Damage from Absurd Remarks"
Yeo Young-guk "Only the Fact of Being an Underqualified Candidate Publicly Displayed"

Former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol, a preliminary candidate in the People Power Party's presidential primary / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] Yoon Seok-yeol, the former Prosecutor General and a presidential candidate from the People Power Party, is facing a flood of criticism in political circles for his remark that "women also go to fortune tellers" while explaining the so-called 'palm Wang (王) character' controversy. Critics argue that he made a statement that could be interpreted as belittling women in an attempt to explain his mistake.

On the 5th, during the 6th TV debate of the People Power Party presidential primary hosted by KBS, Yoon was asked about the palm Wang character controversy. When former lawmaker Yoo Seung-min questioned Yoon about his connections with fortune tellers, monks, and others, Yoon responded, "I don't meet those people often," adding, "I don't really know what my mother-in-law does."

The problematic remark came in his next statement. Yoon added, "Anyway, there are women in our country who also go to fortune tellers."

This sparked criticism in political circles, labeling it a 'woman-bashing remark.'

Former Open Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Jin-ae wrote on her Facebook on the 6th, "Did he sell out women to emphasize that he himself does not go to fortune tellers?" and questioned, "Are the women around Yoon ordinary women of the Republic of Korea?"

She continued, "Yoon’s every outrageous remark has a strange talent for creating specific opposition groups," and criticized, "Dislike accumulates and accumulates, mostly due to belittling remarks."

Former Prime Minister Yoon is giving a greeting at the 6th broadcast debate held on the afternoon of the 5th at the Korea Broadcasting System studio in Yeouido, Seoul. / Photo by Yonhap News

The camp of Lee Jae-myung, a leading presidential candidate from the Democratic Party of Korea and Governor of Gyeonggi Province, also pointed out, "It seems he is becoming chronic in making outrageous remarks."

Jeon Yong-gi, spokesperson for Lee’s camp, said in a statement that "Yesterday, candidate Yoon once again revealed a distorted view of women by saying, 'There are women in our country who also go to fortune tellers,' while trying to explain the controversy," adding, "It is no longer surprising or strange."

He continued, "With 120-hour workweeks, unsafe food, manual labor, and subscription savings accounts, Yoon is setting a world record for one outrageous remark a day," and said, "It seems the day he is listed in the Guinness Book is not far off. At this point, doesn’t he regret his careless words? Ignorance is violence."

The Justice Party also criticized, calling it "the end of outrageous remarks."

Justice Party leader Yeo Young-guk wrote on his Facebook that "As the short-term tutoring fund for one outrageous remark a day is revealed, he may have drawn the Wang character to borrow the power of magic, but it only publicly displayed that he is an unprepared and underqualified candidate," and sharply said, "He should resign from the candidacy and return to being a citizen."

He added, "'There are women in our country who also go to fortune tellers' is an undisputable belittling of women," and pointed out, "It was an attempt to justify his magical election tactics, raising doubts about Yoon’s mental world."

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