Jung Chung-rae of the Democratic Party of Korea apologized after controversy erupted over remarks in which he prompted an elementary school student to call former Blue House AI future planning senior secretary Ha Jung-woo "oppa" during a campaign stop for the Busan by-election.
The Democratic Party of Korea's public relations office said in a notice on the 3rd that Jung conveyed the position that "regarding the visit to Gupo Market, I am sorry to the child and the parents, as the child ended up at the center of controversy and may have been hurt."
Jung visited Gupo Market in Buk-gu, Busan, that day to join Ha's stump speech in support of the by-election. Ha is running in the Busan Buk-gu Gap National Assembly by-election.
At the scene, Jung asked a first-grade elementary school girl, "What grade are you in? This is Jung-woo oppa, try saying 'oppa.'" Sitting in front of the girl and pointing to himself, Ha also said, "Oppa."
When the girl glanced around and hesitated, Jung again said, "Try saying oppa," and when the child repeated it in a small voice, Ha reacted with "Aigo" and clapped.
As the video of the scene spread through online communities, the controversy grew.
The People Power Party criticized the episode as carrying the potential for child sexual harassment and abuse. Lawmaker Park Jung-hoon argued, "It is clearly child sexual harassment to tell an elementary school student to call a politician more than 40 years older 'oppa.'" Lawmaker Sung Il-jong also said, "Repeatedly pressuring a hesitant child is close to child abuse."
Han Dong-hoon, former People Power Party leader running as an independent in Busan Buk-gu Gap, also posted on social media, saying, "Do they not know their behavior is wrong?" and, "Would it be acceptable if your young child were surrounded by men in their 50s to 60s whom they are seeing for the first time and experienced the same situation?"