"Should I Grab by the Collar?" Park Ji-hyun Criticizes Ruling Party Figures Who Paid Condolences for Ahn Hee-jung's Father's Death

"People Who Committed Power-Based Sexual Crimes Cannot Represent the Democratic Party"
"We Will Raise Voices for Change"

Park Ji-hyun, Co-Chair of the Emergency Response Committee of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking via video at the Emergency Response Committee meeting held at the National Assembly on the morning of the 14th. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoon Seul-gi] Park Ji-hyun, co-chair of the Democratic Party's Emergency Response Committee, raised her voice in anger toward ruling party figures who visited or sent condolence wreaths for the late father of former Chungnam Governor Ahn Hee-jung, who is currently imprisoned on charges of sexually assaulting his executive secretary. She said, "I was so angry that I thought, 'Do I really have to grab them by the collar?'"

On the 17th, in a "live edited" video released on the YouTube channel "Dotface," Park said, "Seeing ruling party figures visit Ahn Hee-jung's (father's funeral) when I was already suffering terribly from a COVID-19 infection, I really wondered why these men are like this."

Earlier, on the 14th, at an Emergency Response Committee meeting held at the National Assembly, Park had targeted the controversy over President Moon Jae-in and Democratic Party lawmakers sending condolence wreaths for former Chungnam Governor Ahn Hee-jung's father's funeral, emphasizing, "I will root out political patronage."

Park also mentioned the reason she joined the Democratic Party that day. She said, "Many people call the Democratic Party the 'Deobureomanjindan' (a pun meaning 'only touching together party')," adding, "As the ruling party with a huge number of seats, I joined because I wondered if it was right for things to be going this way."

She continued, "I thought former Busan Mayor Oh Keo-don, late former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, and former Governor Ahn, who committed power-related sexual crimes, could not represent the Democratic Party," and added, "There are also people like lawmakers Kwon In-sook and Jeong Chun-soon who talk about change. I joined partly to raise my voice for such change."

Meanwhile, Park Ji-hyun is an activist who came from "Chujeokdan Bulkkot" (Tracking Team Fire), which exposed the digital sex crime case known as the "Nth Room" in 2019. She was the first to discover the Nth Room, reported it to the media, and notified investigative agencies, bringing the case to public attention. She worked under a pseudonym for personal protection but revealed her face and real name for the first time when she joined the Democratic Party's election campaign committee in January.

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