Speaking at a forum on the proposed merger of Gwangju and South Jeolla Province on Feb. 4, Kim addressed South Korea’s shrinking population and warned that 89 regions nationwide face the risk of "population extinction," with around 20% located in South Jeolla.

"When merging, response measures should be developed at the same time. We should import young women from places such as Sri Lanka or Vietnam to marry single men in rural areas, and then introduce special policies," Kim said during the discussion.

The remarks, which were livestreamed on YouTube, quickly drew criticism from the Vietnamese community in South Korea. Many said the comments crossed a line and failed to respect multicultural communities, human rights and gender sensitivity.

Kim issued an apology later the same day, saying he had intended to highlight the severity of population decline but had used the term "import" inappropriately. He said he did not intend to insult any country or individual. "I apologize to those who may have been hurt by these comments," he said.

In its diplomatic note, written in Vietnamese, English, and Korean, the Vietnamese Embassy stressed that respect for human dignity and honor, particularly that of women, is a shared core value of both Vietnam and South Korea.

The embassy said Vietnamese nationals in South Jeolla have long regarded the province as an attractive place to live because of its traditions of openness, tolerance and mutual respect.

"In this process, respect for and the upholding of women’s dignity and honor must be placed first. Language that is offensive, inappropriate, or lacking in standards, such as the phrase ‘importing Vietnamese women,’ needs to be taken seriously, properly understood, and corrected in a constructive spirit," the embassy wrote.

According to the Vietnamese Women’s Association in South Korea, there are currently 181,436 foreign marriage migrants registered as residents in the country, including 41,779 Vietnamese women. When naturalized citizens are included, the number of Vietnamese women who migrated through marriage exceeds 100,000.

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