Storm in a coffee cup? PPP blasts Lee Jae-myung over cafe comment

The conservative People Power Party intensified its attacks on liberal presidential candidate Rep. Lee Jae-myung for a second consecutive day on Monday, accusing him of misrepresenting the struggles of small business owners. The party seized on Lee’s recent remarks suggesting that coffee shops are highly profitable due to the low cost of coffee beans, turning coffee into the party's latest political weapon.

Rep. Kim Yong-tae, interim chair of the People Power Party, said Monday that Lee's remarks indicating that a cup of coffee retails for up to 10,000 won ($7.20) while the ground coffee used to make a cup of coffee costs 120 won "sounded like (coffee shop owners) were charging 80 times higher than the cost of production" at the party's campaign headquarters meeting on Monday.

Also at the same meeting, conservative Rep. Na Kyung-won said Lee's remarks were like "a nail driven in the chest of honest small business owners."

The controversy stems from comments Lee made at a campaign rally in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, Friday, where he highlighted his previous experience of clearing out illegally operating businesses from mountain streams when he was governor of Gyeonggi Province, from 2018-2021.

Lee recalled offering many such merchants who sold chicken porridge along the streams a more lucrative option in 2019.

"You make chicken porridge for an hour while sweating, and you have 30,000 won (per customer) at hand (minus costs), but if you sell a cup of coffee, you can earn between 8,000 won and 10,000 won while the cost of it is 120 won," Lee said, adding he managed to persuade vendors to move out and converted the space into more attractive tourist spots.

In South Korea, a "tall-sized" Americano sells for 4,700 won in Starbucks nationwide.

The Democratic Party of Korea explained that Lee's remarks were meant to share his experience of ensuring that vendors continue to make a living after their relocation, while achieving his goal of providing tourists with a well-organized space.

However, the rival party accused Lee of misrepresenting the way a coffee shop owner makes money. Kim Moon-soo, presidential candidate of the People Power Party, said via Facebook on Sunday that Lee described small business owners as "profiteering with evil motives."

Lee, at a televised debate Sunday, explained his claim that 120 won in costs for a cup of coffee only took into account the costs of ground coffee back in 2019, blasting the conservative party for failing to understand the context behind his remarks.

Rep. Lee Geon-tae, a lawmaker for the Democratic Party, told The Korea Herald that the party on Sunday evening sued People Power Party's interim chair Kim, for misrepresenting Lee's remarks to imply that coffee shop owners are ripping off customers.

Later on Monday, the conservative party moved to file a criminal complaint with police against Lee for defaming coffee shop owners and falsely accusing its chair Kim.

The issue of retail prices was a decisive factor in the latest general election in April 2024.

Former President Yoon Suk Yeol's remarks about a bundle of green onions at a market he visited — 875 won for 1 kilogram — sparked voters' anger, because the price he saw was abnormally lower than the typical price at the time, which then ranged from 3,000 won to 4,000 won. Instead of noticing the abnormality, Yoon pointed out the price was "reasonable."

Lee, then the Democratic Party leader, led the party in weaponizing it as an attack line against the conservative faction, which allowed the main opposition party to win big in the general election.