Lee Jaemyung Criticizes: "If 'Uprightly' Was Not a Mistake, It Insults Gwangju"
Jin Joongkwon Responds: "Ruling Party Shows Totalitarian Language Habits"
Yoon Seokyoul, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, visited the National May 18th Democratic Cemetery in Buk-gu, Gwangju on the 10th and wrote in the guestbook. Photo by Yonhap News
[Asia Economy, reporter Kang Juhee] A clash of interpretations has erupted over the message Yoon Seokyeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, wrote in the guestbook at the May 18 Democratic Cemetery in Gwangju on the 10th. Yoon wrote, "I will firmly uphold the spirit of May," in the guestbook. However, members of the ruling party criticized this as an "error," asking, "The spirit of May is already standing strong, so what exactly does he intend to set straight?" Yoon's camp strongly pushed back, urging critics not to distort even the Korean language itself.
On the 10th, Lee Kyung, deputy spokesperson of the Democratic Party’s election committee, posted on Facebook a photo in which Yoon’s phrase "bandeusi" ("firmly") was corrected to "bandeusi" ("without fail"), and "to set upright" was changed to "to protect," pointing out that Yoon’s original message contained spelling mistakes.
According to Korean orthography, "bandeusi" means "without fail" or "certainly," while "bandeusi" means "uprightly" or "correctly, without distortion." Critics argued that Yoon should have used "bandeusi" ("without fail") in the guestbook.
On November 11, Lee Jaemyung, the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, also wrote on Facebook, "Saying you will set the spirit of May upright implies that the spirit of May is somehow distorted, which is an insult to its legacy. If 'bandeusi' was used intentionally, that is even more problematic." Kim Seonghoe, spokesperson for the Open Democratic Party, also criticized Yoon on CBS Radio’s "Hanpan Seungbu," saying, "The spirit of May is already standing strong. I don’t understand what he means by setting it upright."
Yoon Seokyoul, the People Power Party's presidential candidate, is paying respects at the National May 18 Democratic Cemetery in Buk-gu, Gwangju on the 10th. Photo by Yonhap News
Yoon's camp immediately pushed back, claiming that critics were distorting the meaning of the guestbook entry. Kim Geunsik, a professor at Kyungnam University and former head of vision strategy for Yoon’s campaign, wrote on Facebook, "It seems they do not understand the intent to uphold and continue the spirit of May in an upright manner. Those who criticize and mock the properly written word 'uprightly' in the guestbook are the ones truly distorting the spirit of May."
He added, "Those who are obsessed only with 'protecting the spirit of May without fail' are, in effect, confessing their intention to monopolize the legacy of May 18 for a particular camp, party, or group."
Jin Joongkwon, former professor at Dongyang University, also defended Yoon, saying that there was nothing wrong with the content or grammar of the guestbook entry, and criticized the ruling party for "nitpicking." On Facebook, Jin wrote, "If you want to criticize, criticize something valid. This is so childish I can’t even watch," and argued that the logic of the ruling party was akin to "Goebbels’ tactics."
He continued, "If someone answers 'yes' to 'Do you love your father?' and you respond, 'Then does that mean you don’t love your country? Does your country mean nothing to you?'-this kind of logic is absurd. Is this North Korea? Look at the language being used. This is the linguistic habit of totalitarians." He went on to mock Lee Jaemyung’s camp, saying, "Do they not even know the Korean language? It seems they are unaware of the existence or meaning of the word 'bandeusi' ('uprightly')."
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