Over President Lee Jae-myung's recent remarks on gender, Reform Party leader Lee Jun-seok criticized them as "a fall in national dignity," saying, "Cut yourself off from community sites."
On the 20th, Lee wrote on his Facebook, "Two days ago, at a youth communication event, the president said, 'I can understand women hating women,' and that remark is leaving people feeling deflated," adding the following.
He went on to argue, "The very fact that the president casually voices, at an official venue, the 'women are women's enemies' frame you would expect to see on internet communities is itself a fall in national dignity."
The previous day, the president attended the "2030 Youth Communication and Empathy Talk Concert" held at Under the Cloud Small Theater in Mapo District, Seoul, and said, "I can understand women hating women, but women should not hate men."
Regarding this, Lee issued a blistering critique, saying, "The reason parties in the liberal-progressive camp are so hypocritical on gender issues is that their heads and mouths move separately," and, "Their heads are filled with etched, outdated gender consciousness, but with their mouths they try to curry favor with a particular gender by saying things they do not mean, so when they occasionally lose their grip, the true feelings crammed in their heads pop out."
He added, "Going further, people who cannot control their heads or mouths and let it reach their actions are the ones who trigger major accidents."
Lee said, "If a conservative politician had made such a remark, there would have been 100 statements issued on the spot, 10 rallies of condemnation, and 1,000 demands for resignation. But because it is a Democratic Party president, they say the context must be considered and 'let's not blur the essence,' and look the other way," pointing out, "Why are the fact-checking media outlets that usually go on about gender sensitivity staying silent?"
Lee also stressed, "Back during the presidential race, when (the president) posted a verified photo directly to an online community saying, 'Hello, this is your 'gallery owner' Lee Jae-myung,' and pandered to the community, we should have realized from then on that he would ultimately make community discourse his governing philosophy," adding, "Watching former President Yoon Suk-yeol become a slave to YouTube and fall into conspiracy theories, we wanted a better president. But this time we have ended up with a president steeped in community discourse."
He added, "(The president) should remember that he is not a 'gallery owner' but the 'president of the Republic of Korea.'"