[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Kim Dae-ho, the Future United Party candidate for Seoul Gwanak-gap who was expelled over a 'generation disparagement' controversy, has expressed his intention to complete the election by filing an appeal. He was also protested by Yoo Ki-hong, the Democratic Party candidate, who told him to "stop spreading false information" after Kim claimed that the media misrepresented the intent of his remarks.
On the 8th, Kim stated on his Facebook that regarding the expulsion decision he received from the party's Ethics Committee that day, "I will file an appeal and plan to complete the election. According to party regulations, this is 100% possible."
According to the Future United Party's regulations, expulsion is finalized after the Ethics Committee's resolution is confirmed by the Supreme Council. If dissatisfied, an appeal can be filed within 10 days from the date of notification of the resolution. Based on this, Kim said, "I will immediately notify the Ethics Committee and Supreme Council of my intention to file an appeal by certified mail today, and the actual appeal will be filed after a thorough legal review before April 18. Therefore, I remain the Future United Party candidate with number 2 until April 15," he emphasized.
Previously, he sparked controversy for disparaging the 30s and 40s generation by saying at the Seoul regional election committee, "People in their mid-30s to 40s are not logical. It's just vague sentiment. A huge ignorance and misconception." At a local broadcast debate, he was also criticized for remarks that could be seen as disparaging the elderly, such as "Everyone becomes disabled as they age." The Future United Party expelled him, citing two verbal mistakes.
However, Kim argued in his statement that the remark causing the elderly disparagement controversy was a minor expression error. He explained that when building a sports center for the disabled in Gwanak-gu, making it exclusively for the disabled would naturally limit users, so he intended to create a facility that elderly people could also use, which he claimed was actually a statement of respect and consideration for the elderly.
He also claimed that the intent of the election broadcast, which is recorded first and aired days later, was misrepresented by early reports. He said, "The main election broadcast was recorded on the 7th and scheduled to be aired to residents on the 9th. If a reporter covers it in the monitoring room and edits only a small part on the 7th, the media can easily mislead residents' judgment before they even watch it."
During this process, he said, "In the debate about the disabled sports center, candidate Yoo Ki-hong said the number of disabled people in Gwanak-gu was 2,700, while candidate Kim Sung-sik said it was 27,000. Of course, Yoo Ki-hong was mistaken," and added, "If the media makes an issue of this, Yoo Ki-hong could be criticized as a candidate who does not even know the number of disabled people, and a critical report could be released two days before the main broadcast to manipulate public opinion."
However, candidate Yoo pointed out that Kim's statement was false. Yoo wrote on his Facebook, "Kim claimed during the local broadcast debate that I misquoted the number of disabled people in Gwanak-gu, but upon verification, I never mentioned the disabled population during my response," and added, "Stop spreading false information and apologize to the public."
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