A remark by Kim Hee-su, Jindo County Chief in Jeonnam, who suggested “let’s import virgins from Sri Lanka or Vietnam” as a measure to address rural population decline, is spiraling into a diplomatic issue. Vietnamese local media have reported on the matter, and Jeonnam Province has decided to send letters of apology to the embassies of the two countries. Nationwide migrant, women’s, and human rights groups have announced a protest rally.

On the 8th, Jeonnam Province stated, “We plan to send ‘letters of apology’ on the 9th to the Embassy of Vietnam in Korea and the Embassy of Sri Lanka, apologizing for Chief Kim’s remarks.” Prior to this, on the 7th, Jeonnam issued an apology under the spokesperson’s name.

In the apology letter, the province said, “We sincerely bow our heads in apology to the embassies and governments of the countries concerned, and to the people and women who were deeply hurt, for Chief Kim’s inappropriate remarks made at the Gwangju-Jeonnam Administrative Integration town hall meeting.”

It continued, “Expressions such as ‘import’ undermine human dignity and objectify women, and can never be justified in any context,” adding, “This runs directly counter to the values of respect for human rights, gender equality, and multicultural inclusion that Jeonnam Province has pursued.”

On the 4th, at an administrative integration town hall meeting held in Haenam, Jeonnam, Chief Kim said, “We should legislate measures against population extinction, and if need be, ‘import’ some young virgins from places like Sri Lanka or Vietnam to marry off rural bachelors, and prepare such special measures.”

Jeonnam’s apology arose from concerns that Chief Kim’s remarks could escalate into a diplomatic issue. The Vietnamese outlet VNExpress prominently covered the matter on the 7th.

The outlet reported that “the Embassy of Vietnam in Korea called the suggestion to ‘import’ foreign women, including Vietnamese, to solve rural population decline ‘insulting and inappropriate’.” It also reported that “it sent an official letter of protest over the remarks to the Governor of Jeonnam Province and to Jindo County.”

Criticism from local residents and human rights groups is also continuing. In a situation where it is difficult to sustain not only agriculture and fisheries but also local communities without migrants, dozens of critical posts were uploaded to the county office’s free bulletin board after the rural county chief made such remarks.

One resident wrote, “In Jindo, numerous multicultural women already live as neighbors and family,” adding, “The county chief’s remarks inflicted deep humiliation and alienation on multicultural families and their children, and undermined the values of inclusion and coexistence.”

According to Ministry of Justice data, as of 2024 there are 145,731 marriage-migrant women, of whom 36,754 (25%) are Vietnamese nationals.

Migrant, women’s, and human rights organizations nationwide will hold a rally condemning Chief Kim’s remarks at 2 p.m. on the 10th in front of the Jindo County Office. Cho Chang-ik, co-representative of the Jeonnam Migrant Workers’ Human Rights Network, said, “We cannot let this pass, as the county chief has openly revealed a discriminatory perception of migrants.”

Meanwhile, as the fallout grew, Chief Kim stated in an apology on the 5th, “I intended to make a statement about increasing the inflow of unmarried foreign women to encourage marriage among men in rural and fishing communities and thereby enhance sustainability, but I made the mistake of using the wrong word, ‘import,’ leading to an inappropriate remark.”