A People Power Party City Councilor's Controversial Hate Speech: "1 in 10 Vietnamese in Korea Uses Drugs"

Yang Tae-seok, Geoje City Council Member's Hate and Derogatory Remarks Against Foreign Workers
Democratic Party and Justice Party Gyeongnam Provincial Branches Issue Statement Criticizing and Demanding Apology

Yang Tae-seok, a member of the People Power Party and a councilor of Geoje City in Gyeongnam, has recently sparked controversy by making xenophobic and derogatory remarks about foreigners at a public session of the city council's extraordinary meeting. The Gyeongnam branches of the Democratic Party and the Justice Party have jointly criticized him.

The problematic remarks were made during the discussion of the "Geoje City Foreign Workers Support Ordinance," which was presented at the 237th Geoje City Council's 1st Economic and Tourism Committee meeting held on the 20th of last month.

Yang Tae-seok, Geoje City Council member. [Photo by Geoje City Council, captured from the 5-minute free speech video]

The ordinance includes provisions for ▲investigation and research on support for foreign workers ▲support for vocational training and education for adapting to domestic life ▲support for housing and living stability ▲establishment and operation of a foreign workers support center. The proposal was submitted by Kim Sun-min, a member of the People Power Party.

According to the minutes of the meeting, Councilor Yang expressed a negative stance on the ordinance, claiming, "If a Korean goes to work in the United States, does that country create an ordinance to support foreigners? No, they do not."

He continued, "In places like Gimhae, where the largest number of foreigners come to Korea, the police cannot manage them," adding, "Foreigners, especially Vietnamese kids, are not managed properly, so even the police have given up."

Furthermore, Councilor Yang stated, "One out of ten Vietnamese kids uses methamphetamine. If we support these kinds of people, I believe that is not right." He emphasized, "If four or five foreigners spit and drag their slippers around downtown, what will happen to our tourism image? It will become an obstacle to where we go."

"People Power Party Geoje City Councilor Who Made Xenophobic and Derogatory Remarks Must Publicly Apologize"

The Democratic Party issued a statement that day, saying, "The councilor's reckless remarks are extremely inappropriate, directly overturning the fundamental efforts of diversity and respect for human rights that the international community and our society have strived for," and pointed out that "they cause devastation and damage the self-esteem of numerous foreign workers and multicultural families in the Gyeongnam region."

The Justice Party's Gyeongnam branch also released a commentary, stating, "Following the hateful remarks about the Itaewon tragedy by Kim Mina, a councilor from the same party in Changwon City, this time Councilor Yang made hateful remarks about foreign workers," criticizing that "he even extended his hatred to labor unions, saying things like 'they might form unions among themselves and refuse to work.'"

They added, "The reckless and hateful remarks by People Power Party officials, whether at the central or local political level, clearly show what kind of thoughts are shared within the party," urging them "to correct their discriminatory behavior themselves."

Meanwhile, the ordinance was deferred in the standing committee.