What They Said is a regular series on the quotes Korea is talking about.
While visiting Busan on October 19, Yoon Seok-youl, a leading presidential candidate from the People Power Party, spoke of the importance of having a respectable, honest government. Unfortunately, in his attempt to criticize the current government he ended up crossing a line:
People say, policy is important. Okay, so are we in this mess because [the government] implemented such good policies? When corruption is rife and people in power chase after money, policies are useless. They fall and blow away at the slightest breeze. For the country to stand upright, we [have to] eradicate these very organized and collective corrupt forces. If I had some kind of illness, would restorative herbal medicine cure me? If my digestive system had been destroyed, could restorative herbal medicine actually fix it?
President Chun Doo-hwan did some wrong things, like the military coup and May 18 [1], but many people say that he was good at politics. Quite a number of people from the Honam region[2] also say so. Why is that? It’s because he delegated. He had been in the army and managed that organization, so he delegated tasks. The economy to the late Kim Jae-ik. People who were in politics around that time said that he told them,”Hey, why don’t you [politicians] run the National Assembly, since you’re better at it.” He delegated a lot of the work.[3]
— Yoon Seok-youl, People Power Party presidential candidate, October 19, 2021.
Chun Doo-hwan is a former South Korean president and dictator who came to power through a coup d’etat on December 12, 1979. He was the country’s de facto leader behind the civilian president Choi Kyu-hah from then until September 1980, when he was elected president. He is known as the commander-in-chief who brutally suppressed the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement in 1980, reportedly killing over 160 people and wounding over 3,000, though some argue that the actual figures are much higher. In 1995, he was sentenced to death for insurgency, which he appealed, receiving a life sentence instead. However, after serving eight months in prison, he was pardoned by the then president Kim Young-sam. He is currently embroiled in a libel trial over his controversial memoirs, in which he allegedly defamed victims of his crackdown, and has remained unapologetic about his actions.
Immediately, the ruling Democratic Party issued a statement, condemning Yoon for his remark:
The people are getting tired of candidate Yoon Seok-youl, who is now praising former president Chun Doo-hwan, and his poor understanding of history and recurring distressful remarks
People Power Party presidential candidate Yoon Seok-youl has gone and praised the former president Chun Doo-hwan.
On a visit to Busan, he said, “President Chun Doo-hwan has done certain wrong things, like the military coup and the May 18 [Gwangju Democratization Movement], but many people say that he was good at politics. Quite a number of people from the Honam region also say so.” I cannot help but be appalled.
Are the politics that Candidate Yoon dreams of practicing just those of former president Chun Doo-hwan? Today’s remarks were beyond that of a slip of a tongue—they give a glimpse into Candidate Yoon’s horrible political and historical views.
Candidate Yoon praised Chun Doo-hwan saying, “He had been in the army and managed that organization, so he delegated tasks. … ‘Hey, why don’t you [politicians] run the National Assembly, since you’re better at it.’ He delegated a lot of the work.” He praised this as “system politics”.
But who is former president Chun Doo-hwan? He was notorious for ruling with an iron fist, oppressing human rights, and trampling democracy. He created the Samcheong Re-education Center, known as the Republic of Korea’s concentration camp for political prisoners, and trampled the rights of innocent people and arrested over 10,000 people as political prisoners during his seven-year presidency.
In command of Hanahoe, a private organization within the military, he assigned its members to important government positions, such as the director of the Agency for National Security Planning, causing countless mortifying and blood-curdling incidents, such as the “Hangnim Incident[4], the Burim Incident[5], the false accusation of Suzy Kim as a North Korean spy, the obstruction of the establishment of the Reunification Democratic Party, and the torture and death of Park Jong-cheol”.
Knowing all this, is Candidate Yoon claiming that Chun Doo-hwan did well aside from the coup and the May 18 incident, that his way of doing politics was good?
Even if we were to concede many other things, it is simply unacceptable that he not only praised Chun Doo-hwan’s politics but also mentioned the Honam region. It is not something that should be said to the victims of the May 18 Incident and their families, whose wounds have not yet healed.
That was clearly a terrible thing to say. He should apologize to the people immediately.[6]
— Lee So-young, spokesperson for the Democratic Party of Korea, October 19, 2021.
Other politicians, including Lee Jae-myung, Democratic Party presidential candidate, expressed outrage at his remarks as well.
Things are getting worse and worse
“Even the people from the Honam region say that Chun Doo-hwan was good at politics,” says Candidate Yoon Seok-youl.
The scars of Gwangju have not yet healed and the truth of the matter has not yet been fully investigated.
Do you think it makes sense to say that a mass slaughterer is a good person aside from the mass slaughtering?
Prostrate yourself immediately on a straw mat and ask for forgiveness for your contempt of the spirits of Gwangju and the people of Honam.[7]— Lee Jae-myung, Democratic Party presidential candidate, October 19, 2021.
Candidate Yoon Seok-youl, clean your mind before cleaning the gravestones at the Gwangju cemetery
I wondered why Candidate Yoon Seok-youl had been so quiet lately. It looks like he had been waiting to drop a bomb. This time, he praised Chun Doo-hwan for “great politics”. I am at a loss for words. It looks like he wants to use as a role model the dictatorship from 40 years ago, which violated the Constitution with a military coup, destroyed democracy, and massacred the citizens of Gwangju. The more I think about it, the more horrible it is. It reminds me of the saying that green is the same as the color of grass.[8] …[9]
— Sim Sang-jung, Justice Party presidential candidate, October 19, 2021.
Candidate Yoon Seok-youl’s insults against leading figures of the party and his defense of Chun Doo-hwan were more than just rambling nonsense—they were absurd remarks.
Amid the endless allegations of crime involving himself, his wife, and his mother-in-law, he is spewing at least one ludicrous statement a day, damaging the status and reputation of the party, and rousing suspicion about whether he is qualified to be a presidential candidate.
It seems that he is overreaching with the short-sighted idea that if he can become a presidential candidate using whatever means necessary, he can use the party to protect his family, rather than wanting to become the president. If this presidential election becomes a competition between alleged criminals, this election will become a ‘Squid Game’ that even the foreign press will laugh about.
People of Korea!
Colleagues and members of the party!
Please make a wise decision.[10]— Hong Joon-pyo, People Power Party presidential candidate, October 19, 2021.
“Aside from the May 18 Incident and the coup, president Chun Doo-hwan was good at politics.”
Does the person who said this dare run for the presidency of the Republic of Korea?
Saying such nonsense in front of the pain of May 18 is shocking and concerning, as it makes me wonder if he has no empathy as a human being living in this era, if he is only engrossed in counting votes in his head, or if he has just always been thoughtless.
The rotten and corrupt politics of extorting hundreds of millions of won from companies and stealing taxes in order to pocket hundreds of millions of won for himself and dole them out to obedient henchmen is good politics and organization management for Candidate Yoon?
I am embarrassed and mortified that a man with such a poor knowledge of history and lack of common sense is running for the presidential election as a candidate for a conservative party.
These are the ridiculous remarks of someone without dignity, who does and says what he wants without thinking of the consequences.
How can he talk about fairness, common sense, and eradicating corruption?
The only way for him to prevent unhappiness for the country and for himself is to apologize to the people and resign [from his candidacy].
If this kind of person becomes a presidential candidate, that will be the end of conservative politics.[11]— Yoo Seong-min, People Power Party presidential candidate, October 19, 2021.
Yoon Seok-youl held firm on his position despite the criticism but finally gave in and apologized on October 21.
Unfortunately, his apology was accompanied by a picture of an apple on his Instagram account. In Korean, apple (sagwa) is a homonym for apology. In the picture posted on his account, someone is holding an apple toward Yoon’s dog, Tory. In connection with the Korean slang “Give the likes of that to a dog”, implying that it’s not worth a thing, the photo has ignited much debate about whether Yoon’s apology was real.
Yoon has been paying for his remarks on Chun Doo-hwan with his ratings, which have fallen compared to previous weeks. It will be interesting to see how the presidential race turns out. The People Power Party candidate will be decided on November 5, and the presidential election is scheduled for March 9, 2022.
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