Trash Talk Dispute... Taeyoungho "Character Defamation" Park Youngsoon "Apologize First"

The Democratic Party to File Ethics Committee Complaint on the 8th... "Beyond Abusive Language, Defamation"
Park Young-soon: "Pointed Out Vile and Wrong Political Behavior"

On the 8th, Tae Young-ho, a member of the People Power Party, and Park Young-soon, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, engaged in a dispute over the use of the term "trash."

Rep. Tae demanded the expulsion of Rep. Park, who had made harsh critical remarks against him when visiting the fasting site of Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party. The People Power Party, to which Tae belongs, submitted a disciplinary proposal against Park to the National Assembly's Ethics Special Committee, citing a violation of the duty to maintain the dignity of lawmakers. On the other hand, Rep. Park countered by mentioning that Tae was criticized for posting a critical message against the Democratic Party in April and said he would apologize if Tae apologized first.

The controversial remarks occurred during the government inspection session at the National Assembly on the 6th. When Rep. Tae said, "The political forces that use the discharge of contaminated water as a political opportunity are, in fact, the Workers' Party of North Korea, the Communist Party of China, and the Democratic Party of Korea," protests erupted from the Democratic Party.

Later, when Rep. Tae referred to the delay in launching the North Korean Human Rights Foundation as "blind obedience to communist totalitarianism," Democratic Party lawmakers including Rep. Park criticized him with remarks such as "Trash came from North Korea" and "That's not something a red (communist) should say."

Tae Young-ho, a member of the People Power Party, is speaking in front of the tent outside the National Assembly where Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is on a hunger strike on the 7th. The day before, Representative Tae visited Lee Jae-myung to protest the opposition party members' speeches in the plenary session. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Rep. Tae said that the term "trash" is an extremely harsh insult in North Korea. On the 8th, on BBS Radio, he stated, "In North Korea, the term 'trash' refers to those who are either executed or erased from society," adding, "Among those who defected to South Korea, the highest level of insult used by the Kim Jong-un regime is 'trash.' It means 'an existence that should disappear from this world.'"

He further claimed that Rep. Park's harsh language was a personal attack on defectors and displaced persons. Tae said, "I don't think Park used the term unknowingly; I believe the Democratic Party has held this perception throughout its history," and pointed out, "In the past, Democratic Party lawmakers also used terms like 'traitor' toward defectors, and even after entering the 21st National Assembly, Democratic Party lawmaker Moon Jung-bok posted a message calling me a traitor and a betrayer, which he deleted after criticism. Such incidents keep repeating."

However, Rep. Park responded that he did not feel it was worth responding to Tae's demand for an apology. On the same day, he posted a rebuttal on Facebook, saying, "Rep. Tae claimed that the term 'trash' is an insult so severe in North Korea that it cannot be spoken, unlike in our country. Then, knowing that, did he still refer to the Democratic Party as 'trash'?"

This referred to a post on Tae's Facebook in April that read, "'Junk Money Sex Democratic Party, indeed JMS Democratic Party.'" At the time, Tae explained that the post was mistakenly uploaded by his staff and deleted it immediately.

Rep. Park criticized, "What kind of lawmaker's staff would post on the lawmaker's SNS account without prior notice or approval? Shifting responsibility to subordinates amid controversy is truly cowardly behavior."

He added, "Rep. Tae's claim that my remarks insult all defectors and displaced persons is outrageous," and said, "My remarks were directed solely at Tae Young-ho himself, particularly criticizing his low and misguided political behavior he has shown so far."

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