"Shin Ji-ye, Just Use and Throw Away a Few Times"... Controversy Over Seoul City Party Spokesperson's Remarks from the People Power Party

Kim Han-gil, chairman of the New Era Preparation Committee, a direct organization under Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, is introducing Shin Ji-ye, head of the Korean Women’s Political Network, who was recruited as the senior vice chairman of the New Era Preparation Committee, at the welcoming ceremony for new recruits held on the 20th at the chairman’s office in Yeouido, Seoul.
Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] Lee Kyung-min, deputy spokesperson of the Seoul branch of the People Power Party, sparked controversy by referring to Shin Ji-ye, head of the Korean Women’s Network who joined the direct organization of People Power Party presidential candidate Yoon Seok-yeol, as "something to be used a few times and then discarded."

On the 20th, Lee posted on his social media under the title "A New Beginning Regarding Shin Ji-ye’s Joining," stating, "There remains suspicion that Shin Ji-ye is a kind of 'livelihood feminist,'" and pointed out, "Even those who are considered representatives of the feminist camp are ready to defect to the People Power Party side anytime if given a good position."

He added, "This also means that the conservative party can sufficiently shake the unified front of feminists. If someone gains some influence and 'rises,' the People Power Party can recruit them and, in fact, use them a few times and then discard them."

Through another post, Lee further targeted Shin Ji-ye with remarks such as "Shin Ji-ye will be 100% abandoned and will never receive party nomination," "A foolish choice by Shin Ji-ye’s standards," and "Although recruiting Shin Ji-ye will cost votes, candidate Yoon Seok-yeol will win."

He said, "I don’t see Shin Ji-ye’s joining the People Power Party this time as that bad. There will be more opportunistic feminists like Shin Ji-ye who want to join the People Power Party. In that case, the unified front of the feminist camp is likely to collapse rapidly. Like in Japan, I think the extinction of feminism is not far off. Men in their 20s and 30s, please don’t be too angry about Shin Ji-ye’s recruitment and consider it good news."

Meanwhile, on the morning of the 20th, Shin joined as the senior vice-chairperson of the New Era Preparation Committee, a direct organization of candidate Yoon. Known as a young feminist politician, Shin began her political activities in 2004 as the head of the Korean Youth Association, ran in the 2016 National Assembly election (No. 5 on the Green Party proportional representation list), and ran in the 2018 Seoul mayoral election (Green Party). At that time, the green poster with the slogan "Feminist Seoul Mayor" received significant attention.