The remarks by Kim Hee-su, the Jindo County Chief in South Jeolla Province, who proposed as a measure to address population decline in agricultural and fishing communities to “import young women from Sri Lanka or Vietnam,” are developing into a diplomatic issue. The comment has also been reported by Vietnamese media. South Jeolla Province has decided to send letters of apology to the embassies of both countries. Nationwide migrant, women’s, and human rights groups have announced protest rallies.

South Jeolla Province said on the 8th that it plans to send on the 9th a “letter of apology” to the Vietnamese Embassy in Korea and the Sri Lankan Embassy regarding Kim’s remarks.

South Jeolla Province also issued a letter of apology the previous day in the spokesperson’s name. The province stated, “We sincerely and humbly apologize to the embassies and governments of the countries concerned, and to the people and women who have been deeply hurt, for County Chief Kim’s inappropriate remarks.” It continued, “Expressions such as ‘import’ violate human dignity and instrumentalize women, and can never be justified in any context,” adding, “This directly contradicts the values of respect for human rights, gender equality, and multicultural inclusion that South Jeolla Province has pursued.”

At a Gwangju-Jeonnam administrative integration town hall meeting held in Haenam on the 4th, Kim said, “We should legislate to address population extinction, and if push comes to shove, let’s import some young unmarried women from Sri Lanka or Vietnam to help rural bachelors get married; we need such special measures.” The Vietnamese outlet VNExpress gave prominent coverage to the issue on the 7th. According to Ministry of Justice data, as of 2024 there were 145,731 marriage-migrant women, of whom 36,754 (25%) were from Vietnam.

Migrant, women’s, and human rights groups across the country will hold a protest rally in front of the Jindo County Office on the 10th. Cho Chang-ik, co-representative of the Jeonnam Migrant Workers’ Human Rights Network, said, “A county chief has publicly revealed a discriminatory view of migrants, and we cannot let this slide.”

On the 5th, Kim apologized, saying he had intended to argue that increasing the inflow of foreign unmarried women was necessary to encourage marriage among men in rural areas and enhance sustainability there, but that he chose the wrong word, using ‘import.’

The Democratic Party expels Jindo County Chief over discriminatory remark, “import young women from Sri Lanka and Vietnam”

On the 9th, the Democratic Party expelled its member Kim Hee-su, the Jindo County Chief in South Jeolla Province, who made a discriminatory remark during a live broadcast, saying, “let’s import foreign young women,” while discussing the issue of population extinction.

Senior spokesperson Park Soo-hyun said that at a closed-door meeting of the party’s Supreme Council at the National Assembly that day, the council unanimously approved a resolution to expel Kim.

Park said, “An emergency disciplinary action by the Supreme Council was taken against party member Kim Hee-su, the Jindo County Chief in South Jeolla Province, for a grave disciplinary cause,” adding, “The reason is the content that caused a scandal with disparaging remarks about foreign women at the Gwangju-Jeonnam administrative integration town hall meeting held live on February 4.”

Earlier, at the ‘On-the-road Town Hall Meeting’ for Gwangju-Jeonnam administrative integration held at the Haenam Culture and Arts Center on the 4th, Kim said, “When Gwangju and South Jeolla integrate, we should legislate measures addressing population extinction, and if need be, import some young women from Sri Lanka or Vietnam to get rural bachelors married.”

Kim’s comment, which referred to women from specific countries as objects of import, drew criticism as racist and sexist. The Vietnamese Embassy in Korea sent letters of protest to the South Jeolla Governor’s Office and the Jindo County Chief’s Office on the 6th, escalating it into a diplomatic matter.

South Jeolla Province issued an apology on the 7th, saying, “We bow our heads in apology to the Vietnamese Embassy in Korea, the Vietnamese government, and the Vietnamese people and women who were deeply hurt by the Jindo County Chief’s inappropriate remarks,” and adding, “We will thoroughly establish internal review and prevention systems to ensure that discriminatory words and actions do not recur.” Kim also issued a statement on the 5th, saying, “I intended to argue that, to encourage marriage among men in agricultural and fishing regions and enhance the sustainability of those regions, we need to increase the inflow of foreign unmarried women, but I made the mistake of using the wrong word, ‘import,’ and made an inappropriate remark,” adding, “I once again apologize to those who may have been hurt by this remark.”

Supreme Council member Moon Jeong-bok said at the meeting that day, “The words of a public official set standards for whom society should respect and whom it may objectify,” adding, “If words and actions that run counter to the values of respect for human rights, gender equality, and multicultural inclusion are repeated by a public official, a region’s future and its trust will inevitably crumble together.”

Within the party, there were also calls for Kim to step down as county chief. The Democratic Party’s National Women’s Committee issued a statement that day saying, “Kim, who made sexist and racist remarks by referring to foreign women as objects of import, should voluntarily resign from the post of county chief.” The National Women’s Committee criticized the remark as “a sexist perception that views women as tools for bearing children, an expression that reveals a racist perception of foreigners, and one that violates human dignity by describing people as objects of import,” adding, “It is unacceptable from a basic local government head, who has a duty to promote residents’ human rights and realize gender equality.”