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Rhyu Si-min slammed for calling Kim Moon-soo’s wife ‘not in her right mind’

Published: 30 May. 2025, 12:01

Rhyu Si-min, left, a liberal commentator and writer, and Lee Jun-seok, the presidential candidate for the minor Reform Party [SCREEN CAPTURE, NEWS1]

Rhyu Si-min, a prominent liberal commentator and former minister, came under fire for describing the wife of conservative presidential candidate Kim Moon-soo as “not in her right mind,” sparking criticism from rival politicians like the Reform Party's Lee Jun-seok who accused him of elitism and misogyny.

During an appearance on broadcaster Kim Ou-joon's YouTube radio show on Wednesday, Rhyu said Seol Nan-young, the wife of the People Power Party (PPP) candidate, "could not claim the position of a presidential candidate's spouse on her own."

Rhyu went on to describe Seol as someone who had “lived a rough life before becoming the wife of a lawmaker and later the Gyeonggi governor,” and implied she would look up to her husband as a vastly superior figure.

Since she now "may be dreaming of becoming a first lady, her feet are off the ground," Ryu said. “That’s what I mean by ‘not in her right mind.’”

“She probably thinks, ‘He’s so exceptional I can’t even match him,’” he said.

Lee, presidential candidate for the minor Reform Party, condemned the comments on Friday, calling them “mockery and insult steeped in deep-rooted contempt for women and class-based arrogance.”

“I was shocked by Rhyu Si-min’s remarks,” Lee wrote on Facebook. “I’ve long known that elitism and arrogance lie at the heart of his shallow philosophy, but hearing him attack someone on a public stage like a presidential campaign with classist and sexist language makes me question what political dignity even means anymore.”

Lee dismissed the idea that Rhyu had simply misspoken. “This wasn’t a gaffe. It was a deliberate effort to reduce a woman’s entire life to a mirage based on her husband’s identity and to strip her of political legitimacy,” he said. “That’s not criticism. That’s ridicule.”

Seol Nan-young, a former social activist and the spouse of People Power Party presidential candidate Kim Moon-soo, speaks at a campaign event in Suwon, Gyeonggi, on May 28. [NEWS1]

He also contrasted Seol’s situation with other public figures. “It’s legitimate to criticize people like Kim Keon Hee or Lee Dong-ho if their actions or allegations warrant it,” Lee said, referring to the wife of former President Yoon Suk Yeol and the eldest son of Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung.

“But attacking Seol’s life based only on her education or relationship with her husband, without any accusations of wrongdoing, exposes Rhyu’s distorted views on women and class.”

Lee accused Rhyu of reducing Seol — who graduated from a prestigious girls’ high school and went on to college — to a political pawn.

“He painted her as a symbol of ambition. That was regressive and insulting,” he wrote.

“Rhyu Si-min demeans academic background, women and the elderly. His words reveal the hypocrisy and superiority complex of an outdated progressive intellectual.”

The PPP echoed the criticism, calling Rhyu’s remarks “misogynistic” and demanding a public apology.

“He judged a woman not as an individual but as an accessory to her husband and even mocked her state of mind,” the party said in a statement.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY JEONG HYE-JEONG [[email protected]]