Myeongnak, This Time 'Subak' Controversy... "Derogatory Term Belittling Honam" vs "Expression of Difference Between Appearance and Reality"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Seoyoung] The camp of former Democratic Party leader and presidential candidate Lee Nak-yeon has once again demanded restraint in the use of the term "subak" employed by Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung.

Today (22nd), Lee Byung-hoon, spokesperson for Lee Nak-yeon's presidential campaign, stated, "Governor Lee has started using the hateful expression 'subak'." The spokesperson added, "Governor Lee is defending his position in a Facebook post related to the Daejang-dong development corruption by using the phrase 'the subak vested interests within us.' It seems he wanted to convey that the conservative vested interests in Lee Nak-yeon's camp and our society are united in attacking him and that he is the victim, but this is a hateful expression that does not align with the facts," he asserted.

Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung's post on his Facebook.
[Photo by Lee Jae-myung, Gyeonggi Province Governor's Facebook capture]

On the 21st, Governor Lee posted on his Facebook titled "Unjust indictment followed by acquittals in the first, second, and third trials, speech in rainy Gimpo." In this post, he stated, "It is the People Power Party politicians who took bribes from private developers and forced the abandonment of LH public development," and used the expression "the subak vested interests within us who subtly pressured me to give up public development."

This post came five days after Lee Nak-yeon's camp requested Lee Jae-myung's supporters to refrain from using the term "subak." Earlier, on the 16th, Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Byung-hoon from Lee Nak-yeon's camp issued a statement saying, "The term 'subak' started being used in the far-right community 'Ilbe' as a derogatory term for Honam," and requested, "Please stop using it."

At that time, Lee Jae-myung's camp responded, "Subak is an idiomatic expression describing someone who is different on the outside and inside," and said, "We cannot understand Lee Nak-yeon's camp's logic of suddenly linking it to the Gwangju May 18 incident." However, lawmaker Lee countered, "Throughout the primary, Lee Jae-myung's supporters have attacked Lee Nak-yeon's supporters by calling them Moonpa, Ddongpari, and subak, inciting verbal violence," and added, "Even if it is used as an idiom, it is merely to incite hatred or exclusion against the opposing candidate and camp."