Jang Dong-hyeok, the People Power Party leader embroiled in controversy over "inflating titles" for U.S. visit meetings, pushed back head-on.
According to the political sphere on the 25th, Jang wrote on his social media (SNS) that "if you go to the U.S. State Department website and check, there are exactly two in public diplomacy leadership," adding, "the rank for that position is clearly Deputy Minister or higher."
After a recent 8-night, 10-day trip to the United States, Jang told the parliamentary press pool that he had met a "U.S. State Department Deputy Minister," drawing accusations of title inflation. The controversy began when the U.S. side said Jang met "Gavin Wax, chief of staff to the Vice Minister for public diplomacy."
Jang later explained that he met two people at the State Department and that the person he met before Chief of Staff Gavin Wax did hold a rank equivalent to Deputy Minister, but reports that the official he met on the first day was also at the "senior deputy assistant secretary" level further fueled the title inflation controversy.
At the time, the People Power Party said in a statement, "The person (Jang) met on day one of the State Department visit attended the meeting with the title of Acting Assistant Secretary, so we described the rank as equivalent to Deputy Minister."
Park Sung-hoon, the People Power Party chief spokesperson, told reporters in the morning, "There were some parts that were wrong during the party leader's U.S. visit, and if there were elements that could cause misunderstanding, we apologize, and we will work harder to win over party members."
Jang stressed, "The more some try to disparage diplomatic achievements over titles, the more the public will focus on the diplomatic results."