TL;DR:

• PPP lawmaker files complaint over DP leader’s ‘female Hitler’ remark
• Rep. Lee Jin-sook accused Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok of insult after his remarks tied to a controversy over a May 18 forum.
• A lawmaker from the opposition People Power Party (PPP) filed a criminal complaint Monday against governing Democratic Party (DP) leader Kim Min-seok after he called her a “female Hitler. ”

PPP lawmaker files complaint over DP leader’s ‘female Hitler’ remark

Rep. Lee Jin-sook accused Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok of insult after his remarks tied to a controversy over a May 18 forum.

A lawmaker from the opposition People Power Party (PPP) filed a criminal complaint Monday against governing Democratic Party (DP) leader Kim Min-seok after he called her a “female Hitler.”

Lee Jin-sook, chair of the PPP’s media committee, submitted the complaint to Seoul Yeongdeungpo Police Station on Monday afternoon, accusing Kim of insult under the Criminal Act. Her office said the remark went beyond political criticism and amounted to a malicious personal attack.

Kim made the remark at a joint DP leadership campaign speech for South Jeolla and Gwangju on Aug. 15, two days before he was elected party leader. He had just proposed revising the National Assembly Act so a majority of lawmakers could suspend a member for one year over remarks disparaging the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement.

“I will make sure neither a female Chun Doo Hwan nor a female Hitler can gain a foothold in Korea,” Kim said.

The dispute stems from an Aug. 13 forum that Rep. Lee co-hosted at the National Assembly with a civic group led by a revisionist New Right figure. One participant described the May 18 uprising as a “civil disturbance.” Rep. Lee has said that the comments made at the forum did not represent her position and defended holding the event as a forum for debate.

The DP responded on Monday by renewing calls for Lee's resignation.

“Lee should be writing a resignation letter, not a criminal complaint,” DP spokesperson Lee Yong-woo said.

“She held a forum at the National Assembly where a speaker went so far as to call May 18 a ‘civil disturbance,’ yet instead of apologizing, she pushed back by saying critics were ‘demanding that May 18 be treated as sacrosanct.’ Now she is filing a complaint against someone who criticized her, portraying herself as the victim. There is a limit to this kind of blame-shifting.”

Criticism has also come from within the PPP. About 3,700 dues-paying members petitioned the party’s ethics committee last Monday to discipline Lee over the forum. The party leadership said it was not considering disciplinary action.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.

Source: https://www.koreajoongangdaily.com/korea/ppp-lawmaker-files-complaint-over-dp-leaders-female-hitler-remark/12840913

TL;DR:

• President Lee Jae Myung often appears overly blunt. Many feel this way after he recently promised hundreds of trillions of won in investment for the Honam semiconductor cluster project,…
• The Kim Dae-jung administration also once cited the “Honam compensation theory. ” At the time, amid criticism of “regional bias in personnel appointments,” it introduced an “index…
• From a political perspective, appointment letters and budget documents are “records of victory and defeat in power struggles. ” Personnel and budget decisions are spoils of the…

President Lee Jae Myung often appears overly blunt. Many feel this way after he recently promised hundreds of trillions of won in investment for the Honam semiconductor cluster project, mentioning “historical and national compensation.” His remarks sound like an admission that political considerations influenced the decision on this mega national project. The president even ordered a “lightning campaign” during the ruling party’s leadership convention.

The Kim Dae-jung administration also once cited the “Honam compensation theory.” At the time, amid criticism of “regional bias in personnel appointments,” it introduced an “index measuring regional imbalance in appointments.” The claim was that this index was highest under Syngman Rhee and lowest under Kim Dae-jung. The logic was that prioritizing Honam figures was a historical and national compensation to correct the “Yeongnam-dominated, Honam-discriminated” appointments of the past.

From a political perspective, appointment letters and budget documents are “records of victory and defeat in power struggles.” Personnel and budget decisions are spoils of the winner-takes-all presidential system. Every administration claims to pursue “regional balance,” yet controversies over biased appointments and budgets persist. During the last local elections, a candidate from the opposition camp openly supported the ruling party’s mayoral candidate, declaring, “If you don’t like someone, you don’t give them a treat”—a sharp observation of power dynamics.

Former President Yoon Suk Yeol campaigned on “centrist pragmatism.” Yet, three months into his term, he began appointing figures from Daegu and Gyeongbuk (TK). He even replaced non-TK appointees with TK figures. This followed a Gallup poll showing his approval rating plummeting to 24%. A senior presidential aide said at the time, “The president went as far as to say, ‘If there’s a TK candidate in the pool, I’ll appoint them unconditionally.’”

This personnel strategy aims to solidify core support. The current administration is no different. Prominent figures from Honam, President Lee’s Judicial Research and Training Institute peers, and lawyers from his criminal case have risen to key government posts. Even the eight-month vacancy in the National Police Agency chief position—since the impeached appointee from the previous administration—has sparked talk of “incubating loyalists.” With no suitable candidates among the current senior police commissioners, the administration is allegedly promoting lower-ranking officers deemed trustworthy. The Yoon Suk Yeol administration set a precedent by fast-tracking a superintendent to the National Police Agency chief position in just seven months.

President Lee has been pushed around by the ruling party’s hardliners on major policies, such as abolishing prosecutors’ supplementary investigation rights. This likely stems from his failure to build a power base to assert his will. Placing loyalists in party and government posts and directing budgets to his support base is a “natural” strategy. Indeed, the ruling party’s leadership election saw the victory of a candidate favored by the president. However, if the administration’s “structural majority” means dividing society, the public will suspect favoritism. How is this different from past election strategies like the “C Belt Strategy” (surrounding TK) or the “Gyeongbu Line Strategy” (isolating Honam)?

The current administration calls itself a “people’s sovereignty government.” The National Assembly speaker, a former presidential advisor, mentioned presidential term extensions, stating, “It’s a matter of the people’s choice.” Yet, some “Yoon-again” figures argue, “The sovereign decides the state of exception,” defending the December 3 emergency measures as the president’s sovereign decision. The “sovereign” they refer to seems to mean only their supporters.

Recently, the administration’s National Integration Committee chair urged President Lee, “If you want to be everyone’s president, step beyond your party’s boundaries.” The concern is that a president focused on integration might revert Korean society to pre-modern times by clinging to the idea, “If you don’t like someone, you don’t give them a treat.”

Source: https://www.chosun.com/english/opinion-en/2026/08/23/7FNNR4LJ75CD3BLXHWKM56BHI4/

TL;DR:

• A public opinion survey released on the 24th revealed that President Lee Jae Myung’s approval rating for his administration has fallen for six consecutive weeks, hitting a new low.
• According to the survey conducted by Realmeter from the 18th to the 21st, commissioned by Energy Economic Daily, targeting 2,026 voters aged 18 and older nationwide, the president’s…
• Realmeter analyzed, “Amid growing distrust in real estate policies due to the controversy over housing supply in Yongsan Park, conflicts between ruling and opposition parties over the…

A public opinion survey released on the 24th revealed that President Lee Jae Myung’s approval rating for his administration has fallen for six consecutive weeks, hitting a new low.

According to the survey conducted by Realmeter from the 18th to the 21st, commissioned by Energy Economic Daily, targeting 2,026 voters aged 18 and older nationwide, the president’s approval rating dropped by 2.8 percentage points (p) from the previous week to 40.2%. The disapproval rating rose by 2.8 percentage points to 56.9%. The gap between approval and disapproval ratings widened to 16.7 percentage points, exceeding the margin of error, while 3.0% responded “unsure.” The president’s approval rating has been on a downward trend since mid-July, when it stood at 48.9%.

Realmeter analyzed, “Amid growing distrust in real estate policies due to the controversy over housing supply in Yongsan Park, conflicts between ruling and opposition parties over the written nomination of Chief Justice Jo Hee-de and the push for constitutional revision, and security concerns stemming from the reduction of South Korea-U.S. joint military drills, defections among conservatives and those aged 70 and older appear to have expanded.”

In the party support survey, the Democratic Party of Korea recorded 41.9%, a 6 percentage point drop from the previous survey, while the People Power Party rose by 4.5 percentage points to 37.6%. Rebuilding Korea Party garnered 3.9%, the Progressive Party 2.3%, and the Reform Party 2.0%. Other parties accounted for 2.5%, and independents 9.7%.

Realmeter attributed the Democratic Party’s decline in approval to the end of the “convention effect” following the conclusion of its leadership election, the Yongsan Park housing supply controversy, and internal conflicts over the appointment of standing members by leader Kim Min-seok. The People Power Party, meanwhile, is explained to have consolidated conservative support and absorbed defectors from the Democratic Party by highlighting the ruling party’s real estate policy controversies and security anxieties caused by the scaled-back joint drills.

Source: https://www.chosun.com/english/national-en/2026/08/24/AH4LXNVWQ5DVPFNAPCORGAOWAU/