Jung Yong-jin, Vice Chairman of Shinsegae Group, posted a message containing the phrase "sorry, thank you" on his social networking service (SNS) on the 4th, sparking ongoing debate among netizens. [Photo by Jung Yong-jin, Instagram capture]
[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] Jeong Yong-jin, Vice Chairman of Shinsegae Group, who sparked controversy by mocking Sewol ferry memorial remarks made by ruling party politicians, has once again posted similar phrases on his social networking service (SNS), sparking ongoing debate among netizens.
On the 4th, Vice Chairman Jeong uploaded photos of patterned fish dishes and fried rice dishes on his Instagram, using the common expression "sorry, thank you." On the fish dish photo, he wrote, "Good bye bulgeun munibari sorry and thank you," and on the fried rice dish photo, he wrote, "The seasoning is a bit off sorry thank you for eating deliciously."
Earlier, on the 25th and 26th of last month, Vice Chairman Jeong posted photos of rockfish and lobster dishes on his Instagram, each accompanied by food reviews containing the common phrase "sorry, thank you," which sparked controversy. The phrase was suspected to be a parody of the memorial message left by former President Moon Jae-in at the Sewol ferry plaza, implying mockery of the Sewol ferry victims.
In March 2017, during his campaign as the Democratic Party presidential candidate, President Moon visited the memorial altar for the Sewol ferry victims at Jindo Paengmok Port and wrote in the guestbook, "Kids, you were the starlight of the candlelight plaza. Your souls became 10 million candles. Sorry. Thank you." At the time, the expression "thank you" in President Moon’s message was criticized as inappropriate for children who lost their lives in the accident.
Meanwhile, some netizens left comments on Vice Chairman Jeong’s posts such as "Sensational Yongjin hyung," "Now you’re doing it in English," "Next post, please use Sumimasen Arigato," and "Unyielding conviction is cool."
On the other hand, criticism toward Vice Chairman Jeong continues on online communities. They speculate that he imitated President Moon’s 'Sewol ferry guestbook' phrase with the intention to mock, saying, "You’re ruining the good image you built on SNS," "There are many other ways to criticize, why insist on this," and "Why do you keep repeating the same phrase periodically?"
One netizen criticized, "Is it all right just because you’re a chaebol and rich? No matter what, there is a line that must be respected." They also expressed anger, saying, "What Ilbe did to former President Roh Moo-hyun, you did the same to the Sewol ferry."
However, there are counterarguments that connecting these everyday expressions posted without special meaning to the Sewol ferry guestbook phrase is an overinterpretation and that it is being viewed too politically.
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