By Kim Yon-se
Staff Reporter
Lee Myung-bak, the presidential candidate of the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP), has been accused of making remarks defaming women.
Civic groups and lawmakers of the pro-government United New Democratic Party (UNDP) and the Democratic Labor Party (DLP) criticized Lee for his ``inappropriate'' joking on prostitution in his recent meeting with some managing editors of the media.
Some journalists who attended the dinner meeting said Lee, citing experiences of his former boss during his work at a company, said bad-looking girls are better than pretty girls when being massaged overseas, an Internet newspaper said.
According to the report, Lee made the remark, while talking about the ``skills of life.''
In a statement, UNDP deputy spokesman Kim Ha-beom questioned the qualification of Lee wishing to become president, saying, ``What do our children learn from this kind of leader?''
Citing the case allegedly involving some high school students' gaining access to a brothel on an overseas school trip, Kim did not rule out the possibility of ``a politician'' legalizing teenagers' buying sex.
A political civic group based in Daejeon urged Lee to apologize to women for his controversial remarks. ``The seriousness lies in the fact that Lee's remarks are based on his habitual view tolerating sexual discrimination,'' it said.
GNP spokeswoman Na Kyung-won, who participated in the meeting, downplayed Lee's remarks. ``It was merely a joke during dinner,'' she said. ``Lee just quoted other peoples' experiences during their overseas stays in the 1970s.''
The presidential office, which has filed a libel suit against Lee with the prosecution for his alleged statement that the presidential office was behind a plot to frustrate his presidential bid, did not comment on the matter.
kys@koreatimes.co.kr
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