"I Know You Spoke with Affection"... How a Lawmaker's Office Deals with Their 'Gaeddal'

Scream Party Lawmaker's Office Bombarded with Protest Calls
"Protesters Are Also Party Members... We Must Ultimately Go Together"

"I had a pleasant conversation. Please keep in touch often."

These were the final words spoken by a staff member from a Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) lawmaker’s office, recently known to be aligned with the anti-Lee Jae-myung faction (Bi-Myung faction), after receiving a ‘protest’ call from a passionate supporter of Lee Jae-myung, known as a Gaeddal (devoted daughter) supporter.

Since the vote was anonymous, and the conversation suggested that the staff member could not disclose how they voted, it is presumed this was one of the protest calls flooding the DPK following the vote on the arrest motion against Lee Jae-myung, the party leader. When hearing the conversation, the initial curiosity was about what kind of protest and content the caller would express. However, that curiosity soon shifted to how the staff member managed to respond so calmly.

Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

During the call, the staff member said, "I understand that you spoke out of affection as a party member," and added, "Aren’t we all party members? I have been a member for 25 years. I will try harder." Although there were requests to summarize the conversation, the call continued politely for about ten minutes. There was no shouting, no profanity, and no perfunctory responses like ‘I will relay this to the lawmaker, so I will end the call now,’ which are typically expected in protest calls.

After listening to the caller’s lengthy protest, the staff member said, "May I say something?" and continued, "You know that efforts to expand the centrist base are necessary. The lawmaker spoke for that reason. Please consider our perspective as well," raising their voice gently.

After the call ended, I approached the staff member to briefly talk and hear about the difficulties faced by the lawmaker’s office amid the flood of protest calls.

He said, "Some people use mild profanity or coercive expressions, but the most troublesome thing is when calls extend beyond 30 minutes without limits," adding, "Nowadays, when I answer the phone, I ask them to summarize their points within about three minutes. Most comply, but sometimes the conversation continues like a stream." He also mentioned that harsh protests with profanity are less frequent than expected.

He said, "The members of the lawmaker’s office are known individuals working with the lawmaker, so although we might feel offended or angry, we cannot show those emotions openly," and added, "I think we are doing emotional labor to some extent." This revealed how challenging it is to handle protest calls all day long. The staff member explained, "The calls are answered by staff members on rotation, and recently, protest calls come about every 20 to 30 minutes. When the lawmaker makes strong remarks on broadcasts, the frequency increases."

He said, "Just because we talked on the phone doesn’t mean the callers immediately support our lawmaker, but they have been longtime DPK members," and added, "Although they are angry, I think they are ultimately people we have to go forward with." He continued, "They know they cannot side with President Yoon Seok-youl or far-right forces, so even if they say harsh things like calling us ‘watermelon’ (a derogatory term), I hope they realize we have no choice but to be together."

However, such amicable conversations are not always the case. Another lawmaker’s aide said, "Calls keep coming nonstop today as well," and described, "After pouring out curses, they ask us to relay their words to the lawmaker." This aide said, "They say they are not cursing us but want us to tell the lawmaker, but how can we convey that? When we say we cannot, they verbally abuse us, even mentioning our families."

He said, "It is commonly said that Gaeddal supporters make these calls, but the situation is somewhat different. There are not many calls from women in their 20s or 30s. Most voices sound like older people," and added that some claim to be local party members, but when checked, it is difficult to find anyone using those numbers.

Additionally, Lee Jae-myung supporters have sent ‘Lee Jae-myung united doughnuts’ and similar items to lawmaker offices. In some cases, they have caused disturbances at local constituency meetings or announced protest rallies in their districts. When anti-Lee faction lawmakers appear at public events, supporters sometimes approach threateningly with video cameras. Because of this, one staff member confessed, "After seeing people holding cameras at party events, I thought it would be dangerous to leave the lawmaker alone."

As the strain worsens in each lawmaker’s office, some have adopted their own countermeasures. Among the offices that received protest calls from Lee’s supporters, some use recorded messages to protect call center staff. When calling the main number, a message plays saying, "The person you will speak to shortly is someone’s precious family member," and "In accordance with the Occupational Safety and Health Act, we are implementing measures to protect customer service workers, so please speak with consideration."

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