A provincial councilor from the ruling People Power Party (PPP) in Gyeongsangnam-do has drawn backlash from Democratic Party (DP) lawmakers after using a derogatory term targeting President Lee Jae-myung in a group chat room shared by all council members and staff.

According to the provincial assembly today, Gyeongsangnam-do Council Ethics Committee Chairman Kim Yi-geun, a PPP member, responded to a message posted by a fellow PPP councilor on August 29—which included a personal statement and news articles raising issues over the potential relocation of the Naval Academy in Jinhae—by using a derogatory word referring to President Lee Jae-myung, stating, "○○○ is digging his own grave."

Democratic Party lawmakers immediately protested upon seeing the message.

One DP lawmaker criticized the post, saying, "Is this chat room a place for the ruling and opposition parties to slander each other?" and adding, "Everyone is entitled to their own arguments, but we should at least maintain basic courtesy."

In response, Councilman Kim posted a message saying, "I momentarily mistook this for the People Power Party group chat," but DP members continued their criticism, urging him to refrain from using crude expressions.

Eventually, all Democratic Party councilors left the chat room.

As the controversy grew, Councilman Kim called DP floor leader Kim Kyung-soo to apologize and expressed his intention to resign as chairman of the Ethics Committee.

Floor leader Kim Kyung-soo said, "We accepted the apology out of concern that the controversy would escalate, but I am worried about how the provincial residents will perceive this."

Out of a total of 68 seats in the Gyeongsangnam-do Provincial Assembly, the People Power Party holds 44 seats, the Democratic Party holds 23 seats, and an independent holds 1 seat.

(Photo provided by Gyeongsangnam-do Provincial Assembly, Yonhap News)