"Trapped in KakaoTalk Prison and Sexually Harassed"... Young Opposition Politicians Tormented by Their 'Gaeddal'

Youth politicians of the Democratic Party of Korea are suffering verbal abuse from so-called 'Gaeddal,' a term referring to their hardcore fandom, after holding a press conference demanding party reform. It is reported that they have been trapped in 'KakaoTalk (KakaoTalk) prisons' and even told to 'die.' The KakaoTalk prison refers to being forcibly invited to large KakaoTalk chat rooms where they are subjected to verbal abuse.

Yang So-young, Chairperson of the Democratic Party of Korea's National University Students Committee, revealed the contents of the verbal abuse she had received from the hardcore fandom on the 26th during SBS's 'Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show,' saying, "(Through KakaoTalk prisons or text messages) I felt very uncomfortable, not just uncomfortable but to the extent that I wondered if legal action was necessary? There were also sexually harassing remarks and such."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 12th, Chairperson Yang held a press conference at the National Assembly Communication Hall in Yeouido jointly with the National University Students Committee and 17 city and provincial university student committees, demanding reform within the party. However, she said that she was attacked with text bombs and verbal abuse from Gaeddal afterward.

She said, "While we were traveling to the provinces, including myself and two university student committee chairpersons from city and provincial parties, there was a serious accident on the highway. After this news became known, I heard things like 'This accident is a show, and I hope you die from this accident.' Honestly, I could handle all the insults, but the situation was serious, and even now, hearing such things in such a serious situation is mentally very hard."

Some were even trapped in KakaoTalk prisons. Chairperson Yang said, "In so-called large KakaoTalk rooms, personal numbers or identities were exposed, and strangers invited us to those rooms where they cursed at us or demanded explanations, asking why we did such things and strongly pressured us with messages." She added, "There is a function to block invitations from unknown people on KakaoTalk, so I informed other chairpersons and blocked those invitations."

As a result, many young politicians are trembling with fear. Chairperson Yang said, "Since the city and provincial university student chairpersons are active university students, many of them are in their early to mid-20s, and I think they were psychologically unstable to handle such political situations. Among them, some are very fearful because their faces and personal information are exposed in their regions."

At the Democratic Party's lawmakers' meeting the day before, Representative Kim Yong-min said something to the effect that "It is strange to have to protect young politicians when young politician Kim Nam-guk also took responsibility." Regarding this, Chairperson Yang said, "It was a remark that showed no awareness of the weight of an active member of the National Assembly," adding, "I think the public will judge even if I do not speak specifically. We should do politics looking at the people, and I find it somewhat questionable what intention the lawmaker had in making such a remark."

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