"Mental Illness Patients Emerging from Rental Housing"... Controversy Over Seong Il-jong's Remarks That Hurt Ordinary People Twice

Sung Il-jong "Mentally ill patients should be isolated..."
Clarifies after controversy: "I meant 'encouragement'"
Opposition criticizes: "Disparaging remarks against the public, should be disciplined"

Seong Il-jong, the Policy Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, is speaking at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the morning of the 2nd. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] On the 9th, Seong Il-jong, the Policy Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, sparked controversy by making a derogatory remark that "many mentally ill people come from rental housing." Although Chairman Seong immediately apologized, criticism continues that his remarks were inappropriate and contained discriminatory views.

Chairman Seong made this statement while giving a lecture at the 'People Power Party Seoul City Party 6·1 Local Election Winners' Conference and Workshop' held at the National Assembly that day. He said, while talking about poor management of rental housing, "There are many poor people here. So mentally ill people come out. This cannot be neglected. It becomes a social problem." He then added, "If we do not operate a neighborhood doctor system to provide counseling and isolate those with problems, such measures must be taken proactively, the state cannot be considered to have fulfilled its responsibility," suggesting that mentally ill people should be 'isolated.'

As controversy arose, Chairman Seong explained that his intention was to improve the living environment of rental housing residents and that the term 'isolation' was a misstatement of 'encouragement.' He said, "It meant improving the residential environment and making the living conditions more pleasant for those living there (in rental housing)." "It was not isolation but strengthening the neighborhood doctor system that encourages and provides counseling."

Chairman Seong later issued a separate statement, saying, "I sincerely apologize for the hurt and discomfort that rental housing residents may have felt." He explained, "This remark was made to describe the poor living conditions of rental housing and to explain the position that the state should provide psychological care for the stress caused by it."

Chairman Seong's remarks have been criticized as problematic because they could deepen prejudice and discriminatory views against rental housing residents. Critics point out that he failed to understand the hardships of ordinary people whose dreams of owning a home have been shattered by soaring real estate prices and who are facing skyrocketing rents and deposits.

His remarks also contradict the housing policy direction of Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon. During the local elections, Mayor Oh pledged to improve discrimination and prejudice against rental housing by promising the 'upgrading of rental housing.' At the workshop, Chairman Seong said he was "deeply moved" by Mayor Oh's pledge and promised policy support. However, at the same time, he made problematic remarks such as 'mentally ill' and 'isolation.'

The Democratic Party of Korea immediately condemned the remarks as 'derogatory remarks insulting the people' and called for disciplinary action against Chairman Seong. Spokesperson Shin Hyun-young said in a written briefing, "It is shocking how much prejudice one must hold against the people to make such reckless remarks without hesitation." She added, "When controversy arose, he hastily changed his words to 'encouragement' and explained that it meant 'the occurrence rate of such patients is high in difficult living conditions.' That is just the same thing," criticizing him.

She continued, "It seems the People Power Party, now the ruling party, does not see the people. We urge the People Power Party to immediately apologize for Chairman Seong's derogatory remarks insulting the people and to take strict disciplinary action."

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