"70s Support Wasted Money" Jin Joong-kwon Finally Apologizes Amid 'Elderly Disparagement' Controversy

Harsh Remarks During Criticism of Grain Management Act Amendment
"May Cause Misunderstanding... Apologies to Those Hurt"

"People who have turned 70 will pass away soon. How long do we have to waste money supporting foreign workers and people in their 70s?"

On the 6th, Jin Joong-kwon, a special professor at Kwangwoon University, who sparked controversy over 'elderly disparagement' by making such remarks while criticizing the amendment to the Grain Management Act, ultimately issued a public apology. On that day, Jin explained on his Facebook, "The problematic remark came out in the course of refuting the statement, 'Rural areas are maintained by people in their 70s and foreign workers, so is it easy to switch to other crops?'"

Professor Jin Joong-kwon. [Image source=Yonhap News]

He wrote, "The intention of my remark was to question whether agriculture, carried out by the combination of people in their 70s and foreign workers, is truly sustainable, as the Democratic Party talks about 'food security.' Rather than spending limited budgets on simply maintaining an unsustainable situation, wouldn't it be more reasonable to use the funds for a fundamental transformation of agriculture into an industry that young people can enter?"

Earlier, on the 4th, Jin appeared on CBS Radio's 'Park Jae-hong's One-on-One Match' and criticized the Grain Management Act (hereafter Grain Act), pushed by the Democratic Party, as "populism aimed at winning farmers' votes," adding, "It has no factual relation to food security."

At that time, Kim Sung-hoe, director of the political research institute Think Why, who appeared together, countered Jin by saying, "The Yoon Seok-yeol government also spent over 1 trillion won last year to buy rice," and added, "Rural areas themselves are already maintained by Koreans over 70 years old and foreign workers. If we talk about rationalization, it would be much cheaper to stop rice farming in our country and import all rice from California."

In response, Jin said, "People who have turned 70 will pass away soon. Will it be maintained after that? We need to spend money on transitioning so that young people can come in. How long do we have to waste money supporting foreign workers and people in their 70s?"

Lee Jeong-mi points out "Regret over disparagement of farmers and migrant workers" and calls for apology

Lee Jung-mi, Leader of the Justice Party.
Photo by Kim Hyun-min

Regarding this, Lee Jeong-mi, leader of the Justice Party, said, "It is regrettable as it sounds like disparagement of farmers and migrant workers who make a living through rice farming," and added, "A sufficient explanation seems necessary."

Lee said, "Professor Jin is a member of the Justice Party. He can express dissenting opinions on the party's policies in private, and naturally, he can have different opinions on this Grain Management Act as well. However, words and actions that deeply wound farmers who are pushed to the brink of survival are a different matter. Although Professor Jin is a regular member, he has significant social influence, and this could distort the Justice Party's true intentions regarding agriculture," she added.

Faced with netizens' criticism of 'elderly disparagement' and Lee's sharp remarks, Professor Jin eventually expressed his apology. He said, "The problematic remark, when taken out of context, does sound very extreme. I acknowledge that it could cause misunderstandings among listeners. Due to the limited discussion time, I compressed my argument and failed to construct the sentence properly."

He also apologized, saying, "I sympathize with Leader Lee Jeong-mi's criticism and apologize to those who were hurt by my remarks. Furthermore, I will be deeply careful to prevent such mistakes from happening again."

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