Choo Mi-ae on Controversy Over Low-Income Support for People Power Party: "Lee's Statement Is True"

"Older Generation Mainly Supports People Power Party"
Lee Also Shared Chu Mi-ae's Remarks on Facebook

Former Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae (right) and Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate. The photo shows Lee Jae-myung, then a presidential candidate, and former Minister Choo greeting supporters in Dongseong-ro, Daegu City, last February.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoon Seul-gi] Former Minister of Justice Chu Mi-ae stated, "It is true that there are many People Power Party supporters among the low-education and low-income groups," in response to criticism within the party regarding Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party of Korea's presidential candidate, and his so-called 'low-income remarks.'

On the 1st, former Minister Chu posted on her Facebook, saying, "We do not need politics or politicians who do not explore the essence and seek solutions."

Earlier, regarding Lee's remark that "there are many People Power Party supporters among the low-education and low-income groups," fellow party leadership candidates Park Yong-jin and Kang Hoon-sik criticized Lee, calling it a 'divide-and-conquer' tactic.

In this context, former Minister Chu said, "An article has come out verifying whether Lee's claim is true," adding, "According to a poll, more than 60% of voters with a monthly income below 2 million won voted for Yoon Seok-youl, the People Power Party's presidential candidate at the time."

This poll was conducted by the East Asia Institute (EAI) and Korea Research immediately after the presidential election (March 10-15). According to the results, among the 'under 2 million won per month' group, 61.3% voted for President Yoon, while 35.9% voted for Lee. In the '2 million to under 3 million won per month' group, 57.2% chose President Yoon, ahead of Lee's 38.3%. Conversely, in the '6 million to under 7 million won per month' group, 61.7% supported Lee, and 32.6% supported President Yoon.

She emphasized, "However, the fact that 'there are many People Power Party supporters among the low-education and low-income groups' is a superficial phenomenon," adding, "In reality, many elderly people aged 60 and above are distributed within the low-education and low-income groups, so it should be understood that the elderly primarily support the People Power Party."

Former Minister Chu pointed out, "In a political environment that stirs up conflict while ignoring the essence, even if Lee Jae-myung said 'the elderly support the People Power Party,' criticism of 'elderly disparagement' would have arisen," and added, "While advocating political change with youth as a weapon, the fuss over trivial remarks only deepens political disgust."

Finally, former Minister Chu raised her voice, saying, "Even if relatively poor people constitute an absolute majority of voters, they have no time to think about anything else as they chase jobs for their immediate livelihood," and "They suffer from the paradoxical voting of supporting forces that neglect them, and are 'groomed' to be unable to properly recognize the causes of social problems, which is another form of harm."

Meanwhile, Lee shared former Minister Chu's post on his own Facebook.

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