Democratic Party leaders meet Choo at North Gyeonggi office

Choi Min-hee says criticism of Choo hurts approval ratings

Kim vows to handle name-calling, debate issues 'with wisdom'

Choo clashes with Kim over Kim Ji-yong appointment

Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi-ae (left) and Democratic Party of Korea leader Kim Min-seok attend the Democratic Party's Gyeonggi field supreme council meeting at the North Gyeonggi Provincial Office in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province, on Monday. [Yonhap]
Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi-ae (left) and Democratic Party of Korea leader Kim Min-seok attend the Democratic Party's Gyeonggi field supreme council meeting at the North Gyeonggi Provincial Office in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province, on Monday. [Yonhap]

Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi-ae, who has been trading barbs with Democratic Party of Korea leader Kim Min-seok for days, raised her voice Monday, asking, "Is it really right to confront a surgeon mid-operation and demand to know why the patient got hurt?" Supreme Council member Choi Min-hee came to Choo's defense amid a recent controversy over the governor's official residence and vehicle, saying, "This is not the time to shake up provincial governance with distorted controversies."

Speaking at the Democratic Party leadership's field supreme council meeting at the North Gyeonggi Provincial Office in Uijeongbu, Choo said the first challenge she faced upon taking charge of the province was "a nine-month, half-finished budget — a budget with an expiration date, in the truest sense of the word." She said the work of the ninth directly elected Gyeonggi provincial administration "is absolutely not about cutting or eliminating sound projects."

Choo also proposed raising the local consumption tax rate from the current 25.3 percent to 40.3 percent and allocating 5 percent of the national corporate tax to local governments.

In response, Kim said on the local fiscal situation that the party would "carefully weigh the general context against the specific circumstances, separate what needs to be separated, and work toward a direction through party-level discussions."

He added that "there are various methods and channels available to the ruling party for raising issues — going beyond criticism to principled problem-raising — and we have been doing so in a way that maximizes respect and adherence to those channels," and said the party would "collectively exercise wisdom on the issue of derogatory labels and dignified debate."

Choo and Kim had also clashed Sunday over budget cuts to the Gyeonggi DMZ International Documentary Film Festival. Kim had criticized the move Saturday at the Gwangju Independent Movie Theater, calling it "a breach of contract in one sense" and "an act of moral and good-faith destruction by a responsible public institution."

Choo fired back on her Facebook page, writing that "the name of culture and the arts must not become a get-out-of-jail-free card for lax management," and pledging to "thoroughly correct the habitually high-cost operating structure and inefficient budget execution so that residents' hard-earned tax money is spent properly."

Choo had also sharply criticized President Lee Jae Myung on Sept. 12, after Lee nominated former prosecutor Kim Ji-yong as the inaugural chief of the new Serious Crimes Investigation Agency, saying the president was "clinging to insurrection forces and acting in a state of constant anxiety."

Kim responded by asking, "If people heard that remark in a blind test, how would they judge it?" and said people "would find it puzzling to learn it came from a responsible Democratic Party politician and governor." He went on to say, "At a time when we need to unite, I wonder if we are heading toward a situation reminiscent of the early signs of the attempt to impeach President Roh Moo-hyun just as he was getting settled" — a remark that stirred controversy both inside and outside the party.

Amid this, Supreme Council member Choi, considered an ally of Jung Chung-rae, continued to side with Choo on Monday. "From the public's perspective, if a governor from the Democratic Party is openly criticized on television, will people hear it as criticism of the governor? Won't they hear it as, 'Why are Democrats fighting each other, why are they splitting apart?'" Choi said, adding that such behavior "simultaneously drags down the president's approval rating and the Democratic Party's approval rating."


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