Outcry grows over Jindo County head’s remarks about importing foreign women

Jindo County Gov. Kim Hee-soo speaks at a town hall meeting at Haenam Culture and Arts Center in Haenam, South Jeolla Province, Wednesday. Captured from Mokpo MBC’s YouTube channel

Remarks by Kim Hee-soo, the governor of Jindo County, that Korea should “import unmarried women from places like Sri Lanka or Vietnam” drew condemnation from Vietnamese diplomats and civic groups Monday and led to his expulsion from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK).

Kim made the remarks during a live-streamed town hall meeting last week on a proposed administrative merger between Gwangju and South Jeolla Province, saying the idea was to help rural bachelors marry and stem population decline in the region. He used a Korean word that refers to young or unmarried women.

His words quickly drew criticism. Last week, the Embassy of Vietnam in Korea sent protest letters to South Jeolla Province and Jindo County.

“The remarks have already caused outrage and offense within the Vietnamese community in Korea and continue to generate controversy and concern,” the statement said, urging authorities to take the matter seriously, apologize and make amends for the phrase “importing Vietnamese women.”

The statement also said that the Vietnamese community in Korea — particularly those living in South Jeolla Province — had long regarded the region as a trustworthy and safe place to build their lives and futures, stressing ties between Vietnam and Korea built over more than 30 years on friendship, cooperation and equality.

“In that context, respect for women’s dignity and honor must remain the top priority,” the statement said.

“We believe that honestly acknowledging the fault and taking concrete corrective action will help build trust and promote healthy social conduct, while further strengthening the Vietnam-Korea comprehensive strategic partnership in the future.”

Part of a protest letter the Vietnamese Embassy in Korea sent to Jindo County and South Jeolla Province over remarks by Jindo County Gov. Kim Hee-soo / Captured from the embassy’s Facebook page

About 100 women’s, migrant and other civic groups in Korea also condemned Kim’s remarks in a joint statement last week, calling them discriminatory for treating immigrant women not as individuals with agency but as tools to fight depopulation through marriage and childbirth.

The statement also said the remarks ignored the harsh realities and structural violence faced by immigrant women, citing figures from the Jeonnam Migrant Women's Counseling Center showing that violence-related consultations in the province have risen each year — from 2,960 cases in 2023 to 4,064 in 2024 and 4,686 in 2025.

In 2024, Vietnamese women accounted for about 25 percent of the 146,000 people on marriage visas in Korea, according to the Ministry of Justice.

Kim and South Jeolla Province both apologized last week after the backlash.

“I used inappropriate language while trying to stress the need for institutional measures to address depopulation,” Kim said. “I deeply regret causing misunderstanding and discomfort.”

South Jeolla Province also apologized to Vietnam and the Vietnamese people, saying it would strengthen human rights and gender sensitivity to prevent similar discriminatory remarks in the future.

“Expressions such as ‘import’ undermine human dignity and objectify women, and can never be justified,” the province said. “They run counter to the values South Jeolla has pursued — respect for human rights, gender equality and multicultural inclusion.”

The ruling DPK expelled Kim Monday.

The party’s spokesperson Park Soo-hyun told reporters the Supreme Council’s decision was unanimous, citing Kim’s derogatory remarks about foreign women.