Derogatory comments by DPK members feared to alienate women voters

Rep. Lee Jae-myung, right, chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, gives a speech to support party's candidate Ryu Sam-young running in the Dongjak-B constituency for the April 10 general elections, near Namseong Station in Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap

Members of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), including Chairman Rep. Lee Jae-myung, have been accused of using hate speech against women, leading party insiders to raise concerns that such controversial remarks could result in the alienation of female voters and swing voters, with less than a week left remaining until the April 10 general elections.

On Tuesday, Chairman Lee referred to ruling People Power Party (PPP) candidate Na Kyung-won, running in the Dongjak-B constituency, as “Nabe” to undermine her political career and support DPK candidate Ryu Sam-young.

The term combines Na’s surname and the late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

“Na is called Nabe, meaning that there are many people who call her view of the state into question,” Lee said.

“Korea is not submissive to Japan but an independent state. This is why Ryu, who has a clear view of the state, should be elected.”

Nabe means a pot in Japanese. In Korea, prostitutes are sometimes referred to as a pot, based on the country’s eating culture in which people commonly dip into the same bowls at meals.

The late Japanese prime minister was a somewhat controversial figure in Korea due to his conservative views of Japanese history, including the denial of government coercion in recruiting wartime comfort women during World War II, which has continued to cause tensions and anti-Japanese sentiment among Koreans.

PPP interim leader Han Dong-hoon denounced Lee’s remarks as “extreme hatred for women,” while the party’s gender equality committee urged him to make an official apology.

Na Kyung-won, a ruling People Power Party candidate running in the Dongjak-B constituency for the April 10 general elections, holds a rehearsal for a debate with her rival candidate, Ryu Sam-young of the Democratic Party of Korea, in Seoul's Seocho District, Monday. Yonhap

For her part, Na wrote on her Facebook on Thursday: “Hatred, abusive language and insults do not hurt me. What hurts me is concerns over the falling dignity of Korea’s politics.”

Another controversy came from previous remarks made by Kim Jun-hyeok, a DPK candidate running in the Suwon-D constituency of Gyeonggi Province.

Kim, a professor-turned-politician, claimed on a YouTube channel in August 2022 that students of Ewha Womans University were forced to offer sexual favors to U.S. military officers after Korea’s liberation from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule.

“Kim Hwal-lan played a big role in sending wartime comfort women to Japan,” the professor said at the time in reference to the first president of Ewha Womans University, also known as Helen Kim.

“She also forced Ewha students to provide sexual favors to U.S. officers during the U.S. military’s rule of the southern half of the Korean Peninsula from 1945 to 1948.”

Kim Jun-hyeok, a Democratic Party of Korea candidate running in the Suwon-D constituency for the April 10 general elections, hands out his name cards to citizens near an apartment complex in Yeongtong District in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday. Yonhap

After such remarks became known, Kim’s aides tried to prevent the issue from growing more serious, explaining that Kim’s comments were aimed at highlighting Kim Hwal-lan’s alleged pro-Japanese acts and were never intended to demean women.

“I apologized to Ewha students, graduates and professors about hurting their pride due to my unrefined comments,” Kim wrote on his Facebook, Tuesday.

But Cho Sang-ho, another DPK member, added fuel to the controversy just a day after Kim made an apology, attempting to side with him.

“I don’t understand (why Kim’s remarks created controversy). Kim just mentioned a historical fact as a history scholar at the time,” Cho said.

The nation’s first and largest women’s university responded strongly, vowing to take legal action.

The alumni association of the university said in a statement, “Kim’s remarks not only disparaged Ewha’s history, but also seriously damaged the reputation of its students, professors and alumnae. At the same time, his remarks are also based on a discriminatory and distorted view of all women.”

Members of the association staged a rally in Kim’s constituency, Thursday, urging Kim to withdraw from candidacy.

As the controversies continued, several party insiders expressed concerns over possible alienation of female voters and swing voters.

“I think all of us should be careful as voter sentiment can change rapidly,” a member of the party said, asking not to be named.