Lee Won-wook: "Gaeddal, Protecting Choi Kang-wook's 'Female Insult'... Must Issue Strong Warning"

Former Democratic Party lawmaker Choi Kang-wook, who recently criticized the Yoon Seok-yeol administration at a book concert using the expression "설치는 암컷" (literally "the one causing trouble is a female"), sparking controversy, was swiftly disciplined by the party leadership with a "6-month suspension of party membership," but the hardline fandom known as "Gaeddal (Reform's Daughter)" is opposing this. Lee Won-wook, a non-mainstream Democratic Party lawmaker, has called on the leadership to also break ties with the hardline fandom.

On the 23rd, Lee said on his social media service (SNS), "Gaeddal, the hardline fandom that used to welcome and follow anything that Representative Lee intended, is now opposing the party's decision and rallying to 'protect Choi Kang-wook' in this incident."

After the Democratic Party leadership decided on a severe disciplinary action against former lawmaker Choi the previous day, the party's hardline supporters expressed outrage and defended Choi on Democratic Party communities such as "Blue Wave," mainly used by the party's strong supporters, and Lee Jae-myung's fan cafe "Jaemyeong's Village."

Lee conveyed the atmosphere within the hardline fandom community, saying, "They believe that the severe disciplinary action is not truly Representative Lee's intention. They argue that disciplining former lawmaker Choi is wrong and that the real targets for discipline are the lawmakers called 'subak' (watermelon), criticizing the party. They are urging for disciplinary action against reformist lawmakers."

He added, "Many Democratic Party politicians who caused repeated controversies with reckless remarks, scandals, and immoral behaviors such as the coin incident were pro-Lee (친명) lawmakers. Representative Lee has shown excessive kindness and endless tolerance toward them. The hardline fandom became protectors of these strong pro-Lee lawmakers and engaged in excessive behavior. Representative Lee turned a blind eye, and the hardline fandom escalated violence, even talking about 'a bullet's shot,'” pointing out the reasons for the fandom's radicalization.

Lee emphasized, "To overcome the current Democratic Party's crisis of reckless remarks and public contempt, 'sincerity' is necessary. The issue cannot be resolved by a single measure against former lawmaker Choi. The first step to show sincerity is to break ties with the hardline fandom Gaeddal, the hardline YouTubers, whose standards of morality and immorality depend solely on whether a lawmaker supports Lee Jae-myung or not."

He also called for a complete overhaul of the Ethics Tribunal and strong warnings against hardline pro-Lee factions, stating, "The public is still watching the Democratic Party with hawk-like eyes. The time for the general election is approaching, and the public does not have much time to accumulate trust in the Democratic Party."