"Business Ban" Cho Kuk vs Kim Woong "Double Standards" Heated Debate

Chief Secretary Jo Yong-woo: "Wrong Address"

After the Party for National Innovation decided to ban its lawmakers from flying business class on domestic flights during parliamentary sessions, Kim Woong, a member of the People Power Party, targeted the party leader Jo Guk by revealing his record of business class flights earlier this month.

On the 16th, Kim posted on Facebook the flight number of a plane departing from Gimpo to Jeju at 8:50 PM on the 2nd, along with the question, "Who do you think was the person who flew business class on this flight?"

He also added the tag "내로남불의_GOAT." 'GOAT' (Greatest of All Time) is an acronym referring to the greatest figure in a particular field in history.

Kim also uploaded a screenshot of an article about the Party for National Innovation's resolution to ban business class flights.

This is interpreted as criticism of Party leader Jo Guk, who used business class on a domestic flight to Jeju two weeks ago to attend the April 3rd memorial ceremony, while leading the resolution to ban business class flights on domestic routes.

Screenshot of Kim Woong, People Power Party member's Facebook page

In response, Jo Yong-woo, chief secretary to the Party for National Innovation leader, commented on Kim’s post, explaining, "I was on the same flight with (Leader Jo), and after riding business class that day, he felt uncomfortable and said we should never fly business class again."

Jo added, "You really paid close attention," and wrote, "Dear junior colleague, please focus on your remaining legislative activities and support the special prosecutor law."

Screenshot of Facebook page of Jo Yong-woo, Chief of Staff to the Party Leader of the Party for National Innovation

Later, Jo posted a separate message on Facebook, repeatedly denying the claims, saying, "You got the wrong person."

He posted a photo of Leader Jo standing in line waiting to board and pointed out, "(In the People’s Future Party) In Yo-han, the election committee chairman, went in ahead to the side," then posted a photo of Leader Jo flying economy class, saying, "This was when he boarded on March 23 during the visit to the April 3rd memorial park."

He explained, "Because there were many attendees at the April 3rd event, we couldn’t secure seats in time and had to book in a hurry, which is why he ended up flying business class. Leader Jo was uncomfortable the whole time. Later, he said, ‘It’s only a one-hour flight, so there’s no need to fly business class. From now on, we will all fly economy on domestic flights,’ and everyone agreed to this proposal at yesterday’s elected officials’ workshop."

He added, "What’s urgent now doesn’t seem to be the opposition leader’s airplane seat, but rather the national crisis originating from Yongsan and the handling of various special prosecutor laws," and "Also, that day was before the election, so he was not yet an elected official."