Petition Submitted to Democratic Party National Response Center
Ryu Ho-jeong "She Called Herself Gaeddal"
Some members of the strong support base of the Democratic Party of Korea have begun to reject the term 'Gaeddal (Daughter of Reform)', which refers to the party's fervent fandom. The reason is that the term 'Gaeddal' is being used to slander Democratic Party members, but in political circles, there are reactions questioning, "When did they proudly call themselves Gaeddal, and why are they now demanding its rejection?"
On the 11th, Ryu Ho-jeong, a Justice Party lawmaker, appeared on Channel A's 'News A Live' and pointed out, "They themselves attached the labels Gaeddal and Yangadeul (Son of Conscience), so I don't quite understand why they are now telling others not to use those terms."
Earlier, a person claiming to be the founder of the fan cafe 'Jaemyeong's Village' for Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party leader, posted on the Democratic Party's National Response Center, arguing that the term Gaeddal should be officially discarded. The petition, which started on the 9th, had received over 1,800 endorsements as of the 10th.
The petitioner stated, "We used the term 'Daughter of Reform' to encourage each other and to rise again with strength to stop prosecutorial dictatorship in this land for the Democratic Party, but the opposing camp framed and incited us like a conspiracy by Jeon Du-gwang," and warned, "If articles with the title and content of 'Gaeddal' slander Democratic Party members, we will identify and stigmatize those articles and journalists as false, fabricated, and inciting, just like Jeon Du-hwan, who brutally bombarded Gwangju under the frame of 'rioters'."
However, Ryu pointed out that the so-called 'Gaeddal' term took root because Democratic Party supporters referred to themselves as 'Gaeddal.'
Kim Geun-sik, former head of Vision Strategy at the People Power Party, also criticized on CBS's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' that "They proudly called themselves Gaeddal and held multiple public meetings and protests in front of the Democratic Party headquarters. If they say not to call them that, people might stop. But to the public, Gaeddal is firmly recognized as a strong, extreme fandom that ardently defends and supports Leader Lee."
There are also criticisms that Leader Lee himself empowered these supporters by calling them 'Gaeddal.' During last year's presidential election, he exchanged SNS messages with his fandom, saying, "Our Gaeddal-nims, thank you sincerely," which attracted attention. In May last year, he also evaluated the so-called 'Gaeddal' and 'Yangadeul' phenomena as a new political behavior with world-historical significance.
Lee Won-wook, a non-mainstream Democratic Party lawmaker, claimed on YTN's 'News King with Park Ji-hoon' that "Right after last year's local elections, Leader Lee communicated with them via Twitter late at night, making efforts to strengthen their power."
Jeong Mi-kyung, former Supreme Council member of the People Power Party, appeared on YTN's 'News & Issue' and said, "It's audacious. Did we use Gaeddal? Who first used Gaeddal? The founder made it, and did the term Gaeddal come from Leader Lee's mouth or not? It did," she pointed out.
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