Na Kyungwon Says Lee's Deletion of Cambodia Post About Being "Totally Ruined" Is an International Embarrassment

President Lee Deletes Warning Phrase Written in Khmer
Na Kyungwon: "The Moment the President Speaks, It Becomes History and Responsibility"
"Deleting at Will Is Erasing the Traces of Power"

President Lee Jaemyung recently posted, then deleted, a warning message in the local language on X (formerly Twitter) targeting a Cambodian criminal organization, drawing criticism from People Power Party lawmaker Na Kyungwon, who called it "an international embarrassment."

Na Kyungwon, a People Power Party lawmaker, criticized President Lee Jaemyung's deletion of a post on X as "an international embarrassment." Photo by Kim Hyunmin

On the 3rd, Na wrote on her social networking service (SNS) account, "President Lee fired off a bold warning on SNS at a Cambodian criminal organization, talking about 'total ruin,' but that SNS warning letter ended up prompting an objection from the other country's government, and was immediately deleted and run away from (deleted and ran away), resulting in an international embarrassment." She continued, "In the international community, the words of a head of state are regarded in themselves as the official position of the nation," adding, "Yet deleting them after just a day or two? There is no 'delete button' in diplomacy. The moment words are spoken, they become history and entail responsibility."

She went on, "The same is true of real estate policy, which has a huge impact on people's livelihoods," arguing, "The market swings wildly every time something is irresponsibly blurted out on SNS. Housing prices soar, loan access for ordinary people is blocked, and the dream of owning a home drifts further away." She also said, "We need to amend the law to prevent President Lee's style of deleting SNS posts and running away," pointing out, "If policies are announced through a personal SNS account and then deleted at will, that is no different from intentionally erasing traces of the exercise of power." She added, "Every word from the president is a national promise," and, "Power that casually erases and conceals that promise is mocking the people."

President Lee Jaemyung recently posted, and then deleted, a warning message in the local language on X aimed at a Cambodian criminal organization. Yonhap News

Earlier, People Power Party lawmaker Ahn Cheolsoo also argued, in relation to President Lee's deletion of SNS posts, that "The president is not a private individual." On the 3rd he said, "Under the Presidential Records Act, records related to the performance of presidential duties are owned by the state, and their creation and disposal are subject to strict restrictions," adding, "As the head of the executive branch of the state, the president's words and writings must be thoroughly recorded, preserved, and handed over in accordance with legal procedures."

He further pointed out, "Nevertheless, President Lee is posting content directly connected to official duties on his X account created in 2010," and asked, "Is it not illegal for him, as 'president,' to leave public records on a private account?" He continued, "Every single post is a presidential record. After his term ends, how does he plan to collect and manage them?" and argued, "Even though these are clearly presidential records that must be preserved through legal procedures, arbitrarily deleting them raises the possibility of a legal violation."

On the 30th of last month, President Lee posted on his X account an article to the effect that "Chinese criminal organizations operating locally in Cambodia are now so wary of crackdowns by Korean police that they no longer recruit Korean members." He then stressed strong response guidelines against transnational scam crimes by adding, "If you mess with Koreans, you will be totally ruined. Does that sound like an empty threat?" The post was also written in Khmer, the Cambodian language, but has recently been deleted.

In response, the Cambodian side asked newly appointed Ambassador to Cambodia Kim Changryong about the meaning of President Lee writing the post in Khmer, and Ambassador Kim is said to have replied to the effect that "since criminal groups may not know English or Korean, he issued a warning message in Khmer." The presidential office said of the reason for the deletion, "We presume he judged that it had been sufficiently publicized, and therefore deleted it."