Women’s Group: "Candidate Lee Jae-myung Must Immediately Dismiss Chief of Staff Han Junho for 'SNS Controversial Remarks'"

Korean Women's Associations United Issues Statement Saying "Heartbreaking"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] Women's organizations have voiced criticism over a 'First Lady comparison remark' posted on social media by Representative Han Jun-ho, who serves as Chief of Staff for Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party's presidential candidate. Han posted on his social media, "Kim Hye-kyung, mother of two children vs. Tori mother Kim Geon-hee, the First Lady also represents national dignity," but after controversy arose, he revised the content to "Kim Hye-kyung vs. Kim Geon-hee."

The Korean Women's Associations United issued a statement on the 19th, directly criticizing, "We cannot help but feel anger at the behavior of politicians who are dividing our already fractured society with new conflicts over various issues."

The association stated, "Despite the rising anger of the entire nation, there has been no apology from the parties involved, nor have we heard the voices of female lawmakers from the ruling party," adding, "Moreover, we want to ask the presidential candidate who appointed such a lawmaker as his Chief of Staff what he thinks about this outrageous remark." They continued, "Are women merely tools for childbirth? Since when have women who cannot give birth become targets of criticism in our society? The behavior of these politicians who even divide people based on whether a woman has given birth is truly lamentable."

The association further criticized, "It is unacceptable to treat women as tools for pregnancy and childbirth simply because they are the spouse of a presidential candidate," and said, "We cannot help but condemn the actions of those who, in order to attack their opponent, throw away even the gender sensitivity and gender awareness they claimed to uphold."

The association urged candidate Lee to clarify his position and take "appropriate measures." They emphasized, "The 60 member organizations of the association, along with 17 city and provincial women's associations representing 5 million members nationwide, demand a sincere apology and retraction of the remarks from Chief of Staff Han Jun-ho, who triggered this incident, and call on presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung to immediately dismiss his Chief of Staff and apologize for the remarks that have deeply hurt the public."

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