Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon has kept up a daily offensive on social media over the cost of importing Brazilian eggs, arguing that explanations offered by the government and the ruling party do not match the facts.
Han, who arrived in Brazil on the 15th, Korea time, to attend a parliamentary audit of South Korean embassies in Brazil and other South American countries, questioned whether excessive costs had gone into the egg imports. He said eggs with a unit cost of 178 won were imported for 1,464 won each, including shipping and other expenses, then sold domestically for 143 won — leaving a loss of more than 1,300 won per egg covered by taxpayers.
The following day, on the 16th, Han posted seven more messages targeting the government and the Democratic Party of Korea, sharpening his criticism. "The government and the Democratic Party are trying to scoop up broken Brazilian eggs," he said.
"When I asked whether the Brazilian egg imports were connected to the Korea-Brazil summit and whether the matter had been discussed there, the ambassador to Brazil said there was room for interpretation," Han said. "The Foreign Ministry said no decision of any kind was made at the summit on the egg import issue — quietly swapping 'discussion' for 'decision.'"
"Saying there was no decision means they could not deny that there was discussion or progress at the summit," he said. "The Lee Jae-myung government should not pettily try to scoop up the ambassador's remarks. Once the eggs have fallen, there is no point in picking them up."
He also pushed back against the Democratic Party's rebuttal. Jeon Eun-su, the party's floor spokesperson, had accused Han of seizing on selected phrases while ignoring the full context of the remarks and of spreading false information by distorting the ambassador's answers.
Han said that not only the government but the Democratic Party as well were scrambling to refute the questions he had raised. "The more pettily you try to scoop it up, the more explosive the original remarks become," he said, urging the administration to "come clean before the public about the full story behind these irrational egg imports, which amount to a waste of taxpayer money — the substance of which is wasted tax revenue and President Lee Jae-myung's personal motives."