Gaeddal, angered by Cho Kwangwook's severe punishment for 'female remark': "Selective destruction"

Opinions Divided Among Incumbent Members of the Democratic Party

Supporters known as "Gaeddal" were outraged when former Democratic Party lawmaker Choi Kang-wook, who said "The Yoon Seok-yeol government is run by females acting wildly," received an emergency disciplinary suspension of party membership for six months.

On the 22nd, opinions expressing anger over the severe disciplinary action against former lawmaker Choi flooded the Democratic Party communities mainly used by hardline supporters, such as "Blue Wave," and Lee Jae-myung's fan cafe "Jaemyung's Village."

Democratic Party lawmaker Choi Kang-wook is entering his office at the National Assembly Members' Office Building on the 18th. On the same day, Choi was sentenced to lose his lawmaker position by the Supreme Court for issuing a false internship certificate to the son of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk. Photo by Kim Hyun-min

Gaeddal: "Selective destruction... lacking the resolve to fight elections"

Supporters claimed, "The 'watermelons' (Democratic Party on the outside, People Power Party on the inside) are letting the pro-voice faction off lightly but completely destroying former lawmaker Choi. It's selective destruction." There were also criticisms like, "With this kind of resolve, how can they fight elections?"

There were also opinions defending the 'female' remark. One stated, "In the late Joseon period, it was shameful when Japan called Empress Myeongseong a female, but calling Mrs. Kim Geon-hee a female is natural."

Others said, "Choi Kang-wook's remark was something that could be said, and looking at the full statement, there is no problem," and "The Democratic Party's always submissive attitude is the problem."

Earlier, former lawmaker Choi drew controversy after it was revealed that on the 19th, at a book launch event for Democratic Party lawmaker Min Hyung-bae's book 'The Politics of Leaving the Party' held at Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology in Buk-gu, Gwangju, he harshly criticized the Yoon Seok-yeol government using the expression "females are coming out and acting wildly."

He said, "Even in Orwell's novel 'Animal Farm,' females rarely come out and cause such a ruckus," adding, "I am not disparaging females; calling those who act wildly 'females' is just calling them by that term."

Democratic Party: "Remarks aimed at hardline supporters do not help win votes"

The Democratic Party also showed signs of difficulty. On the same day, lawmaker Song Gap-seok appeared on KBC's 'Yeouido Invitation' and expressed concern, saying, "As the nomination season approaches, remarks targeting hardline supporters are intensifying, but elections ultimately depend on who wins over the moderate voters, and such harsh and rough language does not help."

Song said, "Every party can have such hardline supporters. The problem is that the public suspects that the influence of these hardline supporters is somehow controlling the Democratic Party."

He added, "It is an eternal truth that winning over moderate voters is necessary to win elections. But will the public, who harbor such suspicions, give us their votes?" expressing concern.

On the same day, the Democratic Party imposed a 'six-month emergency suspension of party membership' on former lawmaker Choi.

Generally, disciplinary decisions for party members who commit such acts are first judged by the party's Ethics Tribunal, but the party leadership apparently judged this as a "serious and significant disciplinary matter in an emergency situation" and hastened the decision through the Supreme Council's resolution.

However, some current Democratic Party lawmakers reportedly expressed opinions such as, "Is the JoongAng Ilbo the standard for the Democratic Party?" and "If you do nothing, you make no mistakes."

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