Lee Ji-eun, a Democratic Party spokesperson who drew controversy with a remark likening President Lee Jae Myung to former President Yoon Suk Yeol, resigned from the spokesperson post on the 10th.

Posting on Facebook the same day, she said, “My language lacked refinement, and there was no need to put the name Yoon Suk Yeol as the object of the comparison,” and expressed her intent to resign, adding, “If I burdened the party by failing to convey my sincerity, that is a shortcoming in my capacity as spokesperson.” She serves as head of the Democratic Party’s Mapo-gap district committee and is considered aligned with the pro-Jeong Cheong-rae camp.

Earlier, appearing the previous day on the YouTube channel <Park Si-young TV>, she addressed the interpretation that, at the press conference marking the first anniversary of his inauguration, President Lee had effectively thrown his weight behind Prime Minister Kim Min-seok in the upcoming Democratic Party leadership election, saying, “We once harshly criticized Yoon Suk Yeol for ‘picking someone’ to make them party leader, and I wondered, could President (Lee Jae Myung) really be doing that now?”

It was reported that at the Democratic Party’s Supreme Council meeting that day, there was discussion over whether discipline was warranted for her remark. Supreme Council members Hwang Myung-sun and Kang Deuk-gu were said to have argued, ‘Does it make sense to compare President Lee Jae Myung with former President Yoon Suk Yeol?,’ indicating that discipline was necessary. Immediately after the meeting, Chief Spokesperson Kang Jun-hyun told reporters, “We are reviewing it to identify the specific details and intent (of the remark),” adding, “This is not a review with disciplinary action in mind.”

On Facebook, she explained that it was “a remark to the effect that President Lee would never do such a thing,” and added, “I believe that distorting the President’s broad-mindedness and sincerity with the factional phrasing of ‘picking a specific person’ is precisely the claim that puts the President at risk.” She continued, “Nevertheless, my language lacked refinement. There was no need to put the name ‘Yoon Suk Yeol’ as the target of the comparison.”