"Let's 'Import' Vietnamese Maidens"...Controversy over Remarks by Jindo Governor

Gwangju-Jeonnam administrative integration meeting broadcast live
Mentioned as a response to local population extinction
Mayor Kang Gijung: "The remarks about imports were wrong"

Kim Heesu, Jindo County Governor, is speaking at the Gwangju and South Jeolla administrative integration outreach town hall meeting held on the afternoon of the 4th at the Haenam Culture and Arts Center. Screenshot from Mokpo MBC.

Jindo County Governor Kim Heesu has come under fire for referring to foreign women as an object of "import" while discussing measures to respond to the disappearance of local populations.

On the afternoon of the 4th, an outreach town hall meeting was held at the Haenam Culture and Arts Center in Jeonnam to hear opinions on the Gwangju-Jeonnam administrative integration from nine cities and counties in the western Jeonnam region. The event was attended by Jeonnam Governor Kim Young-rok, Gwangju Mayor Kang Gijung, Mokpo National University Vice President for Academic Affairs Park Sihyung, and Osangjin, Head of the Artificial Intelligence Industry Convergence Project Group, as panelists, while basic local government heads, local council chairs, and residents were present in the audience.

Governor Kim, who was in the audience, posed a question to the provincial leaders, saying, "Twenty percent of the 89 regions nationwide facing population extinction are in our Jeonnam," and began by stating, "We must use integration as an opportunity to resolve the extinction crisis."

He went on to say, "Since the 2000s, the demographic cliff should have been anticipated, but the government, the academics, and the two of you who were members of the National Assembly (Gwangju Mayor Kang Gijung and Jeonnam Governor Kim Young-rok) all did nothing," adding, "Given the poor circumstances of cities and counties, we cannot implement self-rescue measures even if we try."

The controversial remarks followed. Proposing that "When Gwangju and Jeonnam are integrated, we should also legislate measures against population extinction," Governor Kim said, "If push comes to shove, we should import young maidens from places like Sri Lanka or Vietnam to marry off rural bachelors, and prepare special measures. What is the point of reviving only industry when there are no people?"

Governor Kim's remarks were broadcast live in real time. Although he was raising the issue that an administrative integration focused on industrial development alone cannot solve the problem of population decline in rural and fishing communities, there was a wave of criticism that his comments were inappropriate because he described foreigners as objects of import and singled out specific countries.

Mayor Kang Gijung commented, "I think the remarks about foreign marriages and imports were wrong," before continuing his response.