PPP says Democratic Party shielding Choi Min-hee over 'hyena' remarks

The People Power Party on Thursday criticized the Democratic Party of Korea for defending senior supreme council member Choi Min-hee over her remarks likening photojournalists to a "hyena pack," saying the party was abandoning accountable governance.

PPP spokesperson Jo Yong-sul said in a statement that Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok had tried to contain the fallout by saying he was "sorry on behalf of the party" over Choi's remarks disparaging press photographers. Jo said the response fell far short. "Without any meaningful party-level action, they think a single apology from the leader is enough to close the matter," Jo said.

Kim had appeared on the YouTube program "Minty 07" on Thursday and apologized over the controversy surrounding Choi's remarks, saying he felt "sorry from the party's standpoint."

Jo said Choi's inflammatory language was nothing new, and cited past remarks including "Is it because you have been living in a totalitarian state that you cannot see democratic principles?" and "Is Gangwon Province some kind of extraterritorial zone where nothing applies?"

Jo also raised a separate controversy in which Choi had drawn criticism ahead of her daughter's wedding over the use of a card payment system for cash gift envelopes and the receipt of large sums from officials at organizations and companies subject to parliamentary oversight. "During the cleanup, another controversy erupted over gapjil — allegations that she had assigned staff to handle private tasks such as compiling a list of gift refunds," Jo added.

Jo particularly noted that Choi had long presented herself as someone who had championed press freedom and media human rights, yet "actually denigrated journalists herself and dismissed their reporting activities as meddling."

"It also overlaps with the image of her rushing to the front row to take photos whenever a celebrity visited the National Assembly," Jo added. "What the public remembers is not her media-reform career but her double standard toward the press."

Choi is a former reporter for the monthly magazine Mal and worked with the Citizens' Coalition for Democratic Media, known by its Korean acronym Mineonhyeop, later serving as standing co-chair of its successor organization, the Citizens' Alliance for Democratic Media.

Jo pressed further, asking whether the Democratic Party alone was unaware of why it had drawn criticism as "the party that keeps Choi Min-hee" and ridicule in the form of the phrase "Choi Min-hee did it again." "Don't even dream of covering up responsibility just because she's one of your own," Jo said.

"A single apology for inflammatory remarks, a slap on the wrist for gapjil, and silence on accountability — that is the true face of what the Democratic Party calls responsible politics," Jo said.

Meanwhile, the controversy began after Choi referred to National Assembly photo and video journalists as a "hyena pack" in a group chat that included members of her constituency party chapter.

Choi subsequently held a news conference at the National Assembly, issued a formal apology and shut down the group chat in question.