"Michuhol-gu Elementary Student Wears Insulting Words" Controversy... Who Said It?

Controversy Arises Over Statement by Heosik, Chairman of Incheon City Council
"Remarks Made While Pointing Out Service Deficiencies... No Intent to Belittle"

Heo Sik, chairman of the Incheon City Council, became embroiled in controversy over remarks that seemed to disparage Michuhol-gu.

According to 'Yonhap News' on the 20th, Chairman Heo delivered a congratulatory speech at the 'Jemulpo Renaissance' master plan public briefing held at the Incheon Port Imagination Platform the previous morning.

Huh Sik, Chairman of Incheon City Council, delivering a congratulatory speech at the Jemulpo Renaissance Master Plan briefing session
Photo by Incheon City

The issue arose during this process. Chairman Heo said, "Last week, I met a reporter. He said he used to live in Cheongna but moved to Michuhol-gu and, for two reasons, decided he should move back to Cheongna or Songdo." He added, "First, his elementary school child constantly uses foul language. He said he never saw that in Cheongna."

He continued, "Also, Cheongna has a lake park, which is pleasant and good for walking, but here, there is no such water at all," adding, "Dong-gu and Jung-gu are missing water-related projects in the Jemulpo Renaissance master plan."

Chairman Heo's remarks are interpreted as criticism of the Jemulpo Renaissance master plan, which is Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok of Incheon's first pledge. The criticism points out that the waterfront space projects in Incheon's old downtown areas, such as Jung-gu, Dong-gu, and Michuhol-gu, were not included. However, controversy arose as additional remarks appeared to disparage Michuhol-gu.

Earlier, at the opening ceremony of the '2nd Incheon Education Festival Embracing the World' held at Songdo Convensia in October, Chairman Heo also sparked controversy by saying, "Incheon education is subtly teaching communism."

Regarding the controversy over Chairman Heo's remarks, Bae Sang-rok, chairman of the Michuhol-gu Council, said, "If it is a position representing 3 million citizens, every word must be spoken carefully," and criticized, "He says he spoke with the old downtown in mind, but I cannot understand how he could say such things about Michuhol-gu residents."

Chairman Heo explained, "I pointed out that waterfront spaces are significantly lacking in Jung-gu and Dong-gu, but these parts were missing in the master plan, which led to my comments," and added, "There was absolutely no intention to disparage residents."

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