"Whether Loved or Hated, Chungam Alumni, May Divine Blessings Be With You"… Alumni Association Website Yoon Support Post Sparks Talk

"Yoon's Legacy Will Be Judged by Future Historians"
"Whether Liked or Disliked, as a Chungam Alumnus... Wishing Divine Blessings for His Future"
Content Revised After Controversy Erupts

A post defending President Yoon Suk-yeol was uploaded on the alumni association homepage of Seoul Chungam High School, his alma mater. After the post sparked controversy among alumni, the author was confirmed to have edited the content.

On the 21st, JoongAng Ilbo reported, "On the 18th, a post titled ''Chungam's Son' Alumni Yoon Suk-yeol (8th class)' was published on the 'Focus Chungam People' board introducing prominent Chungam alumni." The post's administrator opened by saying, "We feature our alumnus Yoon Suk-yeol (8th class), who, as the incumbent president, has been arrested on unprecedented charges of treason in the history of the constitutional government, as today's Chungam focus."

President Yoon Suk-yeol is seated in the respondent's seat attending the third impeachment trial hearing held at the Constitutional Court in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 21st. Photo by Joint Press Corps

He added, "Whether he has become a flawed president or a scapegoat who sought to protect liberal democracy, the evaluation of him, who shook the Republic of Korea in 2024, will be made by historians in the future," and "Whether liked or disliked, as a Chungam person, we unite in wishing divine blessings upon his future."

However, after the post caused controversy among alumni, the administrator reportedly deleted the sentence mentioning "divine blessings." Along with this, the content was revised to say, "Although our alma mater's proud honor as the first humanities high school in the metropolitan area to produce a president is greatly shaken, it is also an undeniable fact that he is our Chungam person who cannot be erased," and "We hope that the political situation in the Republic of Korea, shaken by this incident, will stabilize quickly with the wishes of Chungam people."

Meanwhile, Chungam High School has produced figures related to the December 12 and 3 martial law incidents, including President Yoon, former Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun, and former Commander of the Defense Counterintelligence Command Yeo In-hyung. After the incident, the Chungam High School student council issued a statement appealing, "The president and the controversial figures graduated from Chungam High School over 40 years ago. They are merely individuals who briefly passed through Chungam High School as part of their educational duty and have no relation to current students," and "We earnestly ask that criticism toward current students cease and that students be supported to safely dream and pursue their futures."

Yoon Myung-hwa, chairman of the Chungam Foundation, also expressed, "Many people have been calling the school office with complaints, and passersby have been picking fights with school bus drivers," and lamented, "I want to select Yoon Suk-yeol and Kim Yong-hyun as the most shameful alumni of Chungam a million times over."