What Yoo Si-min Said About Being Asked to Serve in Public Office by the Lee Administration

Reason for Refraining from Political Commentary?
"I Simply Couldn't Write"

Writer Yoo Si-min revealed that he was asked whether he would be willing to take a public office position under the Lee Jae-myung administration, but he declined.

Writer Yoo Si-min. Photo by Heo Younghan

On June 24, during an appearance on the YouTube channel "Maebul Show," Yoo addressed the rumors that he had turned down an offer to become Prime Minister, saying, "It is necessary to clarify the facts," and added, "As far as I know, I think I may have been one of the candidates for Prime Minister considered by President Lee Jae-myung."

He continued, "The government side did ask me if I was willing to return to public office," and emphasized, "However, I made it clear that I have no intention of taking any public office."

Yoo stated, "Taking a public office does not necessarily make one unhappy, and not taking a public office does not necessarily make one happy. It depends on the person," and added, "For someone like me, even if serving in public office is meaningful and admirable, it does not bring me personal satisfaction."

Regarding his recent restraint from political commentary, such as not contributing columns to the citizen media outlet "Mindeulle," he said, "I simply couldn't write," and explained, "For nearly seven years since the 2019 Cho Kuk incident, I have been doing political commentary. Usually, there is little criticism of political commentators, but in my case, I was criticized for my commentary and attacked by the People Power Party, and sometimes by the Democratic Party as well." He continued, "Political commentary is a very burdensome task, and I started to wonder, 'Why is it only me who faces this?'."

He specifically mentioned the controversy over his remarks about Seol Nanyeong, the wife of former People Power Party presidential candidate Kim Moonsoo, during the final stages of the 6·3 presidential election, saying, "That was when I thought I should stop."

He said, "I should not have used the expression 'not in her right mind' toward Mrs. Seol. That was a careless attitude for a commentator," and added, "I also spoke as if it were a general principle that a marriage between a college-educated worker and a genuine laborer would create an imbalance in the relationship, but I should have limited that to the case of Kim's couple."

Yoo stated, "Whenever I write a single sentence, I have to consider the risk of it being misused and end up censoring myself," and concluded, "That's why I decided it would be better not to do commentary."