Park Ju-min: "Kim Eun-kyung's remarks were statements that should not have been made"

Kim Eun-kyung, Chair of the Innovation Committee of the Democratic Party of Korea, sparked controversy over "elderly disparagement" after saying at a roundtable, "Why should those with a short future vote one-on-one?" Park Joo-min, a Democratic Party lawmaker, strongly criticized her, saying, "That was an inappropriate remark."

On the 2nd, Park said on SBS's 'Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show,' "Since she is not a professional politician, I think she should be more careful with her remarks."

Democratic Party lawmaker Park Ju-min. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Earlier, at a youth roundtable, Chair Kim quoted her 22-year-old child’s middle school comment: "Voting should be proportional from one's own age to the life expectancy, and from the mother's age to the life expectancy," calling it "quite reasonable," which sparked the 'elderly disparagement' controversy.

Park said, "Since she has roles and expectations to fulfill now, she needs to be more cautious with her remarks." He also pointed out on the previous day’s YTN program 'Shin Yul's News Face-off,' "It is a remark that could cause controversy. Considering her current position and expected roles, it would be better if she spoke more prudently."

Amid the controversy over Chair Kim’s remarks, Yang Yi-won-young, a Democratic Party lawmaker, also stirred controversy by defending her on social media (SNS), saying, "Many of those voting now will not be alive in that future." Park said, "As far as I know, Yang Yi-won-young posted an apology on her SNS yesterday. You might want to check that as well."

Yang Yi-won-young later explained on SNS, "The expression that many of those voting now will not be alive in the future was not meant to disparage the elderly but was written to emphasize the need for youth political participation and to reflect on the political participation responsibilities of middle-aged and elderly generations, including myself."

As the controversy continued, she revised her post, adding, "I apologize for causing misunderstanding with my expression. I did not intend to ignore or disparage the political participation of the elderly, but I expressed it poorly." She also deleted the phrase, "Many of those voting now will not be alive in that future."

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