Kim Eun-kyung, Chair of the Democratic Party of Korea's Innovation Committee, has become embroiled in a controversy over 'elderly disparagement,' prompting the Korea Senior Citizens Association to demand a direct apology. Meanwhile, Kim Nam-hee, spokesperson for the Innovation Committee, took a reserved stance, stating, "We will discuss an official apology."
On the 3rd, Kim Nam-hee said on KBS's 'Choi Kyung-young's Strong Current Affairs,' "First of all, the feelings of apology have been conveyed, but we will discuss it further."
Kim Eun-kyung, Chair of the Innovation Committee of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending a press briefing held at the National Assembly on the 12th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@
Chair Kim made a remark on the 30th of last month during a roundtable with youth, referring to the 'remaining life-proportional voting system' proposed by her son, asking, "Isn't it reasonable?" This sparked backlash accusing her of disparaging the elderly. Although the Democratic Party visited the Korea Senior Citizens Association the day before to apologize for the controversy, Chair Kim did not attend the meeting.
Spokesperson Kim explained that Chair Kim's remarks were not intended to disparage. He said, "I was present when the Chair made those remarks, and she drew a line by saying that the son's idea was 'unrealistic.' Nevertheless, there are people who were hurt. Therefore, the Chair has repeatedly expressed over the past two days that there was foolishness and hopes that the anger will be eased."
Regarding the ruling party's claim that Chair Kim's remarks were 'elderly disparagement,' he said, "This is my personal opinion, but I hope people consider a slightly different perspective. For example, in 1971, one million people were born. However, by 2012, that number had dropped to around 500,000, and last year it fell further to 240,000. The number of births per generation has been reduced to a quarter. This is a unique situation in our country where significant generational gaps are emerging."
He added, "Of course, we absolutely do not deny the principles of democracy, but given the special circumstances of our country where many generational gaps are occurring, it is time for social discussion on how to properly reflect the concerns and awareness of the younger generation in policies."
He explained that Chair Kim's remarks stemmed from the idea that "interests differ by generation." Spokesperson Kim said, "We have also reflected on this internally, and through that reflection, it seems an unnecessary example was given."
The Democratic Party is striving to calm the anger of the elderly. On the same day, Floor Leader Park Kwang-on plans to visit the Korea Senior Citizens Association to apologize. When asked by the host whether Chair Kim would apologize directly, Spokesperson Kim said, "We need to consider that a bit. Because politicians have political responsibilities and should naturally fulfill those roles, but our role is somewhat different from political roles."
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