DP committee chief gets rough reception by elderly group

Korea Senior Citizens Association Chairman Kim Ho-il smacked a photo with the face of Kim Eun-kyung, head of the Democratic Party (DP)’s innovation committee, several times — right in front of her — while shouting, “Get your head straight!”

Korea Senior Citizens Association Chairman Kim Ho-il smacks a photo with the face of Kim Eun-kyung, head of the Democratic Party (DP)’s innovation committee, at the association's office in Yongsan, Seoul, on Thursday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Korea Senior Citizens Association Chairman Kim Ho-il smacked a photo with the face of Kim Eun-kyung, head of the Democratic Party (DP)’s innovation committee, several times — right in front of her — while shouting, “Get your head straight!”

“In representing the wrath of 10 million senior citizens, I should slap your face,” Kim Ho-il said while holding up Kim Eun-kyung’s photos and looking at her. “But, since I can’t, I will slap this picture instead.”

While doing so, Kim told the DP innovation chief never to repeat her mistake of denigrating senior citizens, telling her to never disrespect those who have sacrificed so much and given their all to raise Korea from the ashes of war to the economic powerhouse it is today.

“If not, no DP lawmakers will be elected in the upcoming election next year,” he said.

Kim Ho-il told Kim Eun-kyung that some senior citizens enraged by her comments said they would set themselves on fire in protest, while others wanted to rip her party apart.

“Why did you make such a controversy?” Kim Ho-il asked. “You were invited to improve the DP’s image and to help win the election in April next year.”

“Would denigrating older voters help?” Kim asked rhetorically.

DP innovation committee chair Kim Eun-kyung met with the leadership of the senior citizens' advocacy group on Thursday to offer an official apology for comments she made Thursday.

“I read the press statement of apology in front of the DP headquarters earlier today,” Kim said. “Obviously, I am sorry for hurting you with my awkward and unskilled ways of speaking.”

“This is an official apology,” Kim said.

In a formal apology statement given in front of the DP’s headquarter in Yeouido, western Seoul, earlier in the day, Kim said she “humbly apologized for hurting elderly people.”

Members of the senior citizens' advocacy group made it clear that her sudden visit wasn’t welcome, with one member in the meeting saying, “I’m not happy to see you.”

“You must have no parents at home,” another member said, to which Kim Eun-kyung replied, “Both of my parents passed away early.”

“I will attentively listen to comments on the need to respect the dedication and life experience of the older generation,” she said, noting that her thoughts were no different from such advice.

“From now on, I will be more cautious about the things I say to prevent another situation like this,” she added.

Kim Eun-kyung, who was appointed to help the DP regain the public’s trust through major reforms, has instead courted controversy for tarnishing the DP’s public image.

The current imbroglio began Sunday when Kim, attending a roundtable meeting with 25 or so young people at a coffee shop in Seoul on Sunday, mentioned a conversation she had with her sons.

Kim said her younger son, who at the time was in middle school, asked why older people had the voting power to determine the future.

She responded that his idea that voting power should be proportionate to remaining lifespan was "rational," though she also said it was impossible in a democratic society.

Her comments sparked a furious public backlash, especially from older people, given the DP's track record of controversial comments regarding elderly people.

In 2004, former DP presidential candidate and liberal lawmaker Rep. Chung Dong-young was criticized after telling people who were over the age of 60 to stay at home and not vote.

That same year, fellow liberal lawmaker Rhyu Si-min said people become "stupid" in their 50s and that people in their 60s shouldn’t hold important positions.

DP Rep. Yangyi Won-young being scold by Kim Ho-il head of teh Korea Senior Citizens Association at the office in Yongsan on Wednesday. Yangyi is accused of making denigrating comments against senior citizens. [YONHAP]

The controversy only grew worse when DP Rep. Yangyi Won-young supported Kim on Facebook, writing that many older voters won’t be alive in the future. Yangyi's post has since been deleted.

Despite growing anger and criticism even within her own party, Kim Eun-kyung appeared reluctant to make an apology, further hurting the DP’s public standing.

The DP leadership had to step in, with party floor leader Park Kwang-on making a public apology on Wednesday. Park also ordered DP lawmakers and members to refrain from making comments that hurt the feelings of older voters.

Even Rep. Yangyi visited the senior citizens' association on Wednesday to apologize. Association chairman Kim Ho-il smacked the lawmaker’s business card in the way he did to Kim Eun-kyung's picture the following day.

However, as late as Wednesday, the head of the party's reform committee had shown no sign of apologizing.

Asked about it by a reporter during her public apology at the DP office on Thursday, she replied “I never said I would not make an apology.”

She said she thought the comment she made on Tuesday in meeting with Incheon supporters would make up for an apology.

She said comments she made to supporters in Incheon on Tuesday would suffice instead.

During the meeting, she claimed she was “misunderstood,” blaming the media for misrepresenting what she said to make seem as if she was attacking elderly citizens.

When asked why she was late to apologize to the senior advocacy group, Kim said she was under a tight schedule that made it difficult for her to visit, even though she wanted to come early.

“I even had a meeting at 10 a.m. today, but I stopped the meeting and rushed here as it could wait no longer,” she said.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]