"Controversy Over Yoon Young-seok's 'Kill' Remark Toward Former President Moon... Resign"

Yoon Young-seok: "The Gyeongsangdo Word 'Jikida' Is a Polysemous Phrase"

"The candidate Yoon, who made disgraceful abusive remarks, should acknowledge his lack of qualifications and withdraw from the National Assembly candidacy."

The Democratic Party of Korea on the 9th urged Yoon Young-seok (Gyeongnam Yangsan Gap), a candidate from the People Power Party who made abusive remarks toward former President Moon Jae-in, to resign from his candidacy.

On the afternoon of the 26th, Han Dong-hoon, Emergency Response Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, visited Yangsan Nambu Market in Yangsan City, Gyeongnam, urging support for fellow party candidates Kim Tae-ho and Yoon Young-seok.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Shin Hyun-young, spokesperson for the Democratic Party's Central Election Countermeasures Committee, said in a written briefing that morning, "Candidate Yoon, who denied making abusive remarks even after saying 'We must kill Moon Jae-in,' belatedly made a cowardly apology, claiming 'It was not a remark meant to be heard directly by former President Moon.'

She added, "Candidate Yoon should not pretend to apologize and try to brush it off. Politics of hatred that calls for killing a former president just because of political differences can never be tolerated."

She continued, "Moreover, it is outrageous to call such disgraceful abusive remarks 'the voice of the people.' Have you lost reason in the face of the public's anger toward the government and ruling party? Just as a former president is not a sacred cow, candidate Yoon, who repeatedly makes disgraceful abusive remarks, is by no means untouchable," she pointed out.

Spokesperson Shin emphasized, "Candidate Yoon, who insulted the people under the guise of an apology, is unqualified as a representative National Assembly candidate for the citizens of Yangsan. Candidate Yoon, who insulted a former president with disgraceful abusive remarks and incited extreme hate politics, must apologize to the people and former President Moon Jae-in and resign from his candidacy," she reiterated.

Handonghun, Emergency Response Committee Chairman of the People Power Party (center), visited Yangsan Nambu Market in Yangsan City, Gyeongnam Province, on the afternoon of the 26th to appeal for support for fellow party candidates Yoon Youngseok (right) and Kim Taeho.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Representative Lee Jae-myung also wrote on his Facebook that day, "Why doesn't the People Power Party cancel the nomination of a candidate who said 'Kill Moon Jae-in'?" The day before, he criticized, "I was chilled by the unbelievable extreme remarks. A ruling party candidate inciting violence and terrorism against a former president?how far do they intend to regress democracy?"

Kim Doo-kwan, the Democratic Party candidate running in the neighboring district of Gyeongnam Yangsan Eul, also wrote on Facebook that day, "It seems the People Power Party has nothing left but evil as their defeat becomes imminent," and pointedly asked, "Does someone really have to die from terrorism for them to come to their senses?"

Earlier, on the 7th, while campaigning near Pyeongsan Village in Habuk-myeon, Yangsan City, candidate Yoon was asked by a YouTuber about his thoughts on a (conservative group) rally, to which he responded aloud, "We must kill Moon Jae-in." At the time, he was holding a microphone but shouted the remark after putting the microphone down. This was fully captured on video by a YouTuber.

On the 9th, he dismissed calls for his resignation on his social media, saying, "The person who should quit politics is Representative Lee Jae-myung. How can someone who utters insults against human and familial bonds, deceives the people, and 'pretends to work' have the qualifications to say such things? It is truly absurd."

He further emphasized, "In the Gyeongsang dialect, the word 'jikida' is used with many meanings. The remark made in Pyeongsan Village was by no means about a person's life but was a purely political statement."