Jin Joong-kwon "Yoo Si-min, What More Glory Are You Seeking at That Age?"

"Any means are acceptable as long as the purpose is justified"
"The pro-government intellectual actually suits his aptitude best"

Former Dongyang University Professor Jin Joong-kwon Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Seung-gon] Former Dongyang University professor Jin Joong-kwon criticized Yoo Si-min, chairman of the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation, as a "pro-government intellectual" on the 8th.

On that day, Jin posted on his Facebook, revealing an anecdote he had with Chairman Yoo after the 'JTBC New Year's Debate' on the 1st. He said that right after the debate, he asked Yoo, "At your age, what more glory are you seeking?"

He continued, "This person's mindset is very engineering-oriented, thinking 'as long as the purpose is just, the means don't matter.' So, there was a time I told him to his face, 'I trust Roh Hoe-chan and Shim Sang-jung 100%, but honestly, I only trust you 50%,'" he explained.

Jin added, "I thought he had left the realm of 'ethics' but still kept both feet in the realm of 'logic,' but this time I saw that he had completely left even the realm of logic," emphasizing, "When I pointed out that he had 'gone too far,' Yoo Si-min replied that he was no different from when he ran the 'Noyu-jin Political Cafe.'"

He went on, "Hearing that, I suspected that maybe he hadn't really changed and had been like that all along," and "In fact, I had occasionally realized that there was something wrong with his cultural literacy before," he said.

He continued, "For example, this person once argued the 'moon landing hoax theory,' asking 'What kind of power did the lunar module use to overcome the moon's gravity and escape?'" and "I thought he was joking, but he said this very seriously without laughing. At that time, I suspected that a part of his cultural world had been infiltrated by 'stories' like conspiracy theories," he recalled.

Photo by Jin Joong-kwon, former professor, Facebook capture

Jin then shared an anecdote related to this. He said, "There is a famous story about this," introducing, "Na Young-seok, the producer of , once revealed why the 'uncensored version' of the program cannot be released. 'We can say for sure. For example, Yoo Si-min talks about various histories. But when you check, they are all wrong. There are so many of these that we find out while editing. Anyway, we cannot give viewers incorrect information,' said PD Na," he introduced PD Na's remarks.

He continued, "Using the fact that nothing has changed as a starting point, I reflected on whether the judgments Yoo made in the past were really accurate," and "But after examining, his predictions (or forecasts) have hardly ever been correct," he pointed out.

He added, "This time too, he said, 'All charges against Jeong Gyeong-sim can be defended.' But look, was it really defensible?" and "I wondered how big his palm must be to believe he can cover the sky. While talking with him at the time, I felt that he had a serious problem with rational judgment," he repeatedly criticized.

Yoo Si-min, Chairman of the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation [Photo by Yonhap News]

Jin said, "Even in making 'judgments,' Yoo's unique characteristic is visible," describing it as "'hopeful thinking,' perhaps? Instead of making a cold, objective judgment about the situation, he mixes his subjective hopes wildly into the judgment of the matter."

He also said, "As everyone knows, Kim Eo-jun is a born Gwangwoo (anti-American activist), a born shaman, and a born storyteller," adding, "You could say he is a walking conspiracy theory? (This friend is a hardware problem, not software.) I thought Yoo Si-min would be somewhat different, but apparently, he is not that different," he criticized.

He said, "It is very precious that Yoo calls himself a 'pro-government intellectual,'" and "The habit of mixing fact and fiction in perception and judgment is something intellectuals should be wary of, but it is a quality that pro-government people must have."

Finally, Jin said, "This is not meant to be sarcastic, but 'pro-government intellectual' is actually the job that best suits his aptitude and qualities."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.