The Shilla Seoul unilaterally canceled wedding reservations set for about two months from now. The hotel cited a state event as the reason and said it would fully compensate the expense. That set off a debate between the ruling and opposition parties over whether the government pressured the hotel to cancel the weddings.
On the 24th at the National Assembly, Democratic Party chief spokesperson Park Su-hyeon said, "To be clear, our government has never asked the hotel to cancel the weddings."
Park went on to tell People Power Party lawmakers Joo Jin-woo and Yoo Sang-beom, who raised the allegation, "Before speaking, accurately verify such basic facts with our government side, then speak," and "We demand a clear apology on this matter."
Earlier, The Shilla said to some wedding bookers that "a state event is scheduled for early Nov., so we are unavoidably guiding you to change your reservation," and unilaterally canceled the bookings.
On the 22nd, Joo said, "This is something that cannot happen in a liberal democracy." He also said, "Must powerless citizens donate even the wedding halls they had reserved to the government if the government says a word?" and added, "No matter how important an international event is, it cannot infringe on the people's happiness and rights. This is dictatorship. Apologize to the people immediately and set it right."
In addition, when the Democratic Party countered that day that "the government did not ask the hotel to cancel," Joo responded again on Facebook, saying, "The Shilla says it will fully reimburse 160 million won in wedding expense per ceremony. Since dozens of weddings have been canceled, that means The Shilla's outlays amount to at least several billion won." He continued, "Without a government request, could The Shilla mass-cancel dozens of weddings while shouldering company expense of several billion won?"
Joo also said, "How could The Shilla know the international event schedule in advance and cancel the ceremonies without a government request?" adding, "It is a scene that defies understanding as normal profit-seeking activity by a private company."