[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] Broadcaster Kim Eo-jun criticized Chung Yong-jin, Vice Chairman of Shinsegae Group, labeling him as a far-right 'Ilbe' supporter and saying, "If he weren't a chaebol owner, he would have been fired."
On the morning of the 9th, Kim said on his TBS radio show "Kim Eo-jun's News Factory," "Vice Chairman Chung Yong-jin is mocking the Sewol ferry disaster by using expressions like 'sorry, thank you' on food," and pointed out, "He has no empathy at all; it's an Ilbe-like way of thinking."
He continued, "Ilbe is a mindset unrelated to wealth or academic background, and Vice Chairman Chung is mocking by using these expressions on food," adding, "If a chaebol acted like Ilbe, he would just be Ilbe. If he were not a chaebol owner but only the head of Shinsegae's food division, he would have been fired. Because he is the owner, no one can stop him; if he were not part of the Samsung family, it would have been over."
This claim suggests that although Vice Chairman Chung repeatedly used inappropriate expressions that could cause misunderstandings on his social media (SNS), as the owner of a large corporation, the company could not forcibly restrain him.
Earlier, since last month, Vice Chairman Chung posted photos of live ingredients such as rockfish, lobster, and beef on Instagram, leaving comments like "Goodbye, lobster. Sorry and thank you," and "Goodbye, rockfish. You truly upheld the pride of rockfish. Sorry and thank you."
Online speculation arose that these remarks mocked President Moon Jae-in’s message written in the guestbook when he visited Jindo Paengmok Port in March 2017 during his presidential candidacy, which said, "Kids, you were the starlight of the candlelight square. Your souls became 10 million candlelights. Sorry and thank you." Additionally, Vice Chairman Chung’s comment on the meat photo, "You set our taste," was compared to former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon’s message at the Sewol ferry memorial, "You rebuilt South Korea."
As controversy grew, Vice Chairman Chung quickly deleted the post that said "You set our taste," but continued to use variations of "sorry and thank you," such as "sorry and thank you," "OOOO OOO," etc. On the 7th, he further fueled the controversy by posting a photo of his pet dog along with a memorial message saying, "My Silbi brought a lot of love to our home. Silbi, really sorry and thank you. OOO OO OOOOO O OO OOO."
On the afternoon of the 8th, Vice Chairman Chung wrote, "I originally used my middle finger to push up my glasses because it’s long and comfortable. But our PR director told me not to do things that could be misunderstood because it’s hard for her. Even a habit of over 50 years must be changed. From now on, I will use the shortest finger to push them up," indirectly indicating that he would refrain from using the problematic expressions in the future.
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