Joo Jin-woo softens on Lydia Ko claim but offers no apology; past 'North Korean face' remark resurfaces

People Power Party lawmaker Joo Jin-woo, who alleged that first lady Kim Hye-kyung played golf with professional golfer Lydia Ko in what he called a "VIP lesson," softened his stance Monday after Ko pushed back, acknowledging "some errors may exist" — but stopped short of apologizing. When Ko signaled she would pursue legal action over the spread of false information and defamation, Joo quietly edited his video to remove photos of her without issuing any apology or notice.

According to political sources, Joo said during a live broadcast on his YouTube channel Monday, "As I was verifying the tip I received, I honestly admit that some errors may exist on my part."

He nonetheless insisted the core issue remained unchanged. "That's not the point. We must not lose sight of the substance," he said, arguing that the central allegation was that Kim received a golf lesson at Taereung Country Club at around 11:05 a.m. on Oct. 20.

Earlier Monday, at the comprehensive national audit session of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, Joo had claimed that Kim played golf at Taereung Country Club with Lydia Ko and one other man — a group of three. He suggested that Ko's on-course lessons cost tens of millions of won per session and questioned whether Kim had received them for free, saying that if so, it could constitute a criminal offense.

He also included photos of Ko in competition in videos he posted to his YouTube channel and social media accounts.

Ko responded on social media, saying the reports were "not true and have nothing to do with me." She added that she had been fulfilling official sponsor event commitments on Oct. 20 and released two photos taken at the event to support her account. Ko also warned that she would "pursue legal action, depending on the case, against articles, posts and comments that spread unverified false information or damage my reputation."

After Ko's rebuttal became public, Joo edited his previously posted video to remove the portions featuring her photos.

However, he offered no apology to Ko and gave no notice that the video had been edited. Around midnight Monday, Joo wrote on his social media account, "Above all, I want to say thank you for your hard work to my staff."

At a press conference Tuesday morning, when asked whether he intended to apologize to Ko, Joo pushed back. "The Democratic Party's framing of 'apologize' is nothing more than a frame to muddy the waters on this issue," he said. He added that he had not criticized Ko herself and had no intention of doing so, and that calls for an apology were an attempt "to water things down and make it seem as though I made some error."

Meanwhile, Joo drew criticism last month for posting a comment on an online forum describing actor Yoo Hae-jin — who appeared in the film "The Assassin," then at the center of a historical-distortion controversy — as having a "North Korean face," widely condemned as a personal attack on the actor's appearance. Joo rebuffed the criticism, claiming he had meant the actor "sided with North Korea" and that his remark fell under freedom of expression.