Jindo County chief under fire again after cursing at resident during open meeting
Published: 09 Feb. 2026, 20:12
![Jindo County chief Kim Hee-soo [JINDO COUNTY]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2026/02/09/e6511285-0726-44ae-93ac-8a6d9e00f5a5.jpg)
Jindo County chief Kim Hee-soo [JINDO COUNTY]
The county head who argued that Korea should “import virgins from Sri Lanka or Vietnam” once again came under fire on Monday, this time for swearing at a county resident during an open conference over facility repairs.
According to a local newspaper report, Kim Hee-soo, the Jindo County chief in South Jeolla, cursed at a resident during a meeting at Gunnae Middle School in Gunnae-myeon, Jindo County, on Monday morning.
When a complainant raised their voice, Kim said, “Ah, that guy is noisy too,” then immediately stood up and swore.
“It seems that Kim unintentionally exchanged harsh language with a complainant,” a Jindo County official said. “We are sorry that such unfortunate incidents have occurred in succession.”
Kim came under fire last Wednesday after claiming, “When Gwangju and South Jeolla integrate, we should legislate something about population extinction, and if that still doesn’t work, we should import some virgins from Sri Lanka or Vietnam to marry rural bachelors.”
Kim issued an apology a day later and explained, “The remark was meant to convey that the population decline problem cannot be solved through industrial revitalization alone and that active institutional responses are needed at the level of an integrated Gwangju–South Jeolla local government and the national government.”
Despite his apology, the Vietnamese Embassy sent a letter of protest to the South Jeolla provincial government; people continued to post criticism regarding Kim's behavior onto the Jindo County Office website; and the Democratic Party unanimously expelled Kim at its Supreme Council meeting on Monday.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KIM JI-HYE [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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