[News Terms] Hong Young-pyo Directly Attacks Lee Jae-myung with 'Pichilgap'

"Only Skinning Others While Hands Are Covered in Blood"
"Can You Handle 100 Seats?" Criticism, Pro-Myeong Faction Silent
Pro-Myeong Lee Dong-ju "Don't You Know Why It's the Bottom 10%?"

'Pichilgab' is a pure Korean word that describes a state where the body is covered with a lot of blood, as if painted with blood all over. The Korean dictionary defines it as "the act of smearing or covering the whole body with blood, or something left in such a state." Similar words include 'Pibeombeok' and 'Pituseongi,' which have similar meanings.

At the Democratic Party lawmakers' meeting held at the National Assembly on the 27th, accumulated conflicts over candidate nominations erupted all at once. During the process where dissatisfaction toward the leadership, including Representative Lee Jae-myung, was expressed without filtering, the term 'Pichilgab' surfaced.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to multiple attendees of the meeting, Hong Young-pyo, a key pro-Moon Jae-in (Chinmun) lawmaker, argued about the disadvantages in candidate nominations for the non-Myeong faction, saying, "(Representative Lee) said that when conducting innovative nominations, there is the pain of skinning, but the party leader is covered in blood on his hands by skinning others without skinning his own skin," and directly attacked Representative Lee in front of him, asking, "Is he trying to create a personal shrine for himself and seize the next party leadership?"

In response, Floor Leader Hong Ik-pyo went up to the podium and requested, "Please restrain your expressions," but Hong Young-pyo did not hide his agitated emotions even after finishing his speech and leaving.

After the meeting, Hong Young-pyo explained to reporters regarding the 'Pichilgab' remark, "When doing nominations and innovation, there is the pain of skinning. I pointed out the problem that the party leader does not skin his own skin." He also said, "I expressed concerns that the situation seems not aimed at winning the general election but rather at completing 'personal shrine-ization'."

Extreme measures toward the leadership and calls for Representative Lee's resignation also emerged. Lawmaker Oh Young-hwan said, "The nomination conflict suspicions are worsening; can we conduct the election normally like this?" and added, "To resolve the situation, Secretary-General Jo Jeong-sik and Deputy Secretary-General Kim Byung-gi should take responsibility and step down."

Lawmaker Seol Hoon, who has announced his intention to leave the party, urged, "Step down from the party leadership, do not run in the general election, take responsibility for this situation, and resign," and said, "If Representative Lee keeps the party leadership, the party will just collapse. Others can sufficiently lead the party."

Other concerns were also voiced, such as "They talked about 200 seats, then 150 seats, now can we even get 100 seats?", "What are you going to do? If you make a mistake, we will all perish together," and "Can we run the general election with only Lee Jae-myung without Moon Jae-in?"

In response to these agitated reactions from lawmakers, Representative Lee and the pro-Lee faction reportedly remained silent throughout the 2 hours and 40 minutes of the meeting. After the meeting, Representative Lee told reporters on his way out, "Our lawmakers gave various opinions, and I will take them into consideration for party affairs." However, he did not answer questions about the resignation of Supreme Council member Go Min-jeong or the cut-off of former Secretary Im Jong-seok and left the venue.

Lee Dong-joo, member of the Democratic Party of Korea (far right).
Photo by Yoon Dong-joo

Meanwhile, regarding Hong Young-pyo's 'Pichilgab' remark, Lee Dong-joo, a pro-Lee lawmaker and candidate competing with Hong Young-pyo in Incheon Bupyeong district (proportional representation), posted on his Facebook on the 28th, "Hong Young-pyo, who does not know shame, please do not leave the party. I will confidently defeat you in the primary," and directly criticized, "Stop making a disgrace."

Lee pointed out, "I don't know why he is in the bottom 10%. Since the 21st National Assembly, he has only proposed 28 bills. Only two bills have been processed, and one of them is a sunset extension that anyone can propose."

He added, "What on earth has he done for four years? Was he too busy running for party leader to work?" and questioned, "He has been nominated unopposed in the 19th, 20th, and 21st general elections and re-elected for the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th terms, so does he see nothing? Was he arrogant enough to think he would naturally get nominated?" He also sarcastically said, "That's why, while North Korea was firing missiles, the National Defense Committee member was probably playing golf."