Yoon Ho-jung on 'Don Quixote Remarks': "The United Future Party Cannot Distinguish Between Criticism and Hatred, Satire and Insult"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jinyoung] Yoon Hojung, Secretary General of the Democratic Party of Korea, criticized the Future United Party leadership regarding the ‘controversy over offensive remarks,’ stating, “The Future United Party cannot distinguish between criticism and hatred, nor between humor and insult.”

[Image source=Yonhap News]

At a current affairs briefing held at the National Assembly on the 9th, Secretary General Yoon said, “Because they consider healthy criticism and humor as offensive remarks and hateful speech, their own ‘brain official’ leads them to label the statements of opposing parties as hateful and offensive remarks.”

He added, “According to the dictionary, offensive remarks are defined as speaking recklessly or carelessly, while hateful speech refers to statements that intentionally disparage, threaten, or incite against specific groups of people based on gender, generation, religion, political ideology, social status, appearance, etc. Thus, hateful speech and offensive remarks can be clearly defined.”

He continued, “Because the standards are ambiguous, they mistakenly believe that their own hateful and offensive remarks can be pardoned,” targeting Future United Party candidate Cha Myungjin, who was involved in the ‘Sewol Ferry offensive remarks’ controversy.

On the 7th, at a Democratic Party meeting, Secretary General Yoon compared Kim Jongin, the Future United Party’s general election campaign committee chairman, to Don Quixote, saying, “He looked like he was riding Hwang Gyoan’s beloved horse, with Park Hyungjun’s attendant in front, wielding a lance toward the imaginary windmill of presidential impeachment,” which sparked controversy.

In response to the Future United Party’s backlash, Secretary General Yoon replied on Facebook the same day, “It seems to have hurt a lot,” and said, “If Representative Hwang, who was likened to 愛馬 (a beloved horse), was offended, then all candidates running in this general election should be offended.” On the 8th, Future United Party leader Hwang Gyoan, campaign committee chairman Kim, and co-campaign committee chairman Park Hyungjun announced they would file a lawsuit against Secretary General Yoon for defamation and other charges for likening the party leadership to ‘Don Quixote,’ ‘beloved horse,’ and ‘attendant.’

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