[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] Park Beom-gye, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, is facing fierce criticism after belittling Yoon Hee-sook, a member of the United Future Party, by calling her speech "image manipulation." In particular, Park's use of the phrase "strange intonation" to describe Yoon's speech has sparked accusations of regional discrimination.
On the 1st, Park posted on his Facebook, "First of all, (Yoon) emphasized tenants, but she is not the so-called original." He sarcastically added, "Yoon was a two-homeowner until just before her National Assembly speech, and currently owns one rental property. Manipulating the image as if she were a lifelong tenant with no assets is a bit..."
This was aimed at Yoon's free speech at the National Assembly plenary session on the 30th. At that time, Yoon criticized the ruling party's unilateral passage of the revised Housing Lease Protection Act. Yoon Hee-sook began her speech by saying, "I am a tenant," and said, "Looking at the passed bill, I thought, 'In four years, I will inevitably have to move into a monthly rent,' and argued, 'The moment landlords become afraid to rent out their homes, the market collapses.'"
Park questioned, "Worried about switching to monthly rent in four years?" and argued, "Can landlords easily return large lump-sum deposits and switch to monthly rent? Those who bought homes with gap investment loans and rented them out with lump-sum deposits are in a worse position. In any case, the worries about being evicted every two years and about a sharp increase in monthly rent have been thrown away."
After Park posted this content, some pointed out that it was a case of "double standards." Park is a multi-homeowner who owns three properties: an apartment in Daejeon, a building in Miryang, Gyeongnam, and a house and commercial building in Daegu. Last month, he expressed his intention to sell all real estate except the apartment in his constituency in Daejeon.
The bigger controversy arose from Park's remarks implying regional disparagement. Regarding media reports on Yoon's remarks, Park said, "Media praise? First of all, speaking coherently in the National Assembly, without glaring eyes and strange intonation, is a rare case over there, so it deserves evaluation." The phrase "strange intonation" is interpreted as referring to the Daegu-Gyeongbuk accent, raising accusations of regional disparagement.
The United Future Party issued a statement saying, "We ask Park to clarify what he meant by 'strange intonation.' It sounds like disparaging a specific region. Or is it disparaging a specific person? This has crossed the line," criticizing him.
The phrase "without glaring eyes and strange intonation" has been deleted from Park's Facebook post.
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