At a Meeting with Pelosi, Kwon Seong-dong Raises Hand High for a 'Click'... Kwon Seong-dong Faces Another Mobile Phone Controversy

On the morning of the 4th, at the meeting between the Speakers of the National Assemblies of South Korea and the United States held at the National Assembly, Kwon Seong-dong, the floor leader of the People Power Party, was seen taking out his mobile phone, which was captured by a broadcasting station's camera.
[Photo by JTBC News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] The use of mobile phones by Kwon Seong-dong, the floor leader of the People Power Party, has once again come under scrutiny. Following last month's incident in the National Assembly plenary session where he exchanged Telegram messages with President Yoon Seok-yeol, this time he was caught taking out his phone towards the side of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during a Korea-U.S. parliamentary speaker meeting, sparking controversy.

According to political circles on the 6th, a meeting between National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo and Speaker Pelosi was held on the morning of the 4th at the National Assembly. Floor leaders from both ruling and opposition parties, as well as members of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, also attended the meeting.

The meeting began with Speaker Kim's greeting. He expressed, "It is especially pleasant and joyful to welcome the leader of the parliament of our blood alliance country as the first foreign parliamentary speaker."

At that moment, Floor Leader Kwon suddenly raised his mobile phone high. The phone screen captured by broadcasting cameras showed Speaker Pelosi's image. It appeared as if he was taking a photo of Speaker Pelosi. The cameras also clearly recorded Kwon zooming in on the screen with his hand and pressing the shutter button.

Then, as Speaker Pelosi began her remarks, Floor Leader Kwon took out his phone again. While everyone was attentively listening to Pelosi's speech, Kwon's phone was directed towards Speaker Pelosi.

This scene spread through social networking services (SNS) and drew criticism from netizens. One netizen called Kwon's behavior a "national disgrace," pointing out that it was "rude and lacking manners." Another sarcastically remarked, "I thought it was product placement (PPL)," adding, "It seems like he's aiming for the phone model."

On the 26th of last month, during the government questioning session at the National Assembly plenary meeting, a Telegram message exchange between Kwon Seong-dong, the floor leader of the People Power Party, and President Yoon Seok-yeol was captured on camera. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

Meanwhile, this is not the first time Floor Leader Kwon has been criticized for using his mobile phone. Previously, on the 26th of last month, during a government questioning session in the National Assembly plenary, he was caught on camera exchanging Telegram messages with President Yoon, which caused controversy.

At that time, President Yoon described People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok as "a party leader who only did internal backstabbing," which caused a significant stir even within the People Power Party. This was interpreted as revealing President Yoon's 'true feelings,' showing his discomfort towards Lee.

Regarding this, Floor Leader Kwon apologized on Facebook, saying, "It is entirely my fault," and "Regardless of the reason, I apologize for causing concern to party members, comrades, and the public."