'3 Years Imprisonment for Shoe Terrorist' Article... Ha Tae-kyung: "The Court That Sentenced 3 Years Is Iraq, Not the US"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Ha Tae-kyung, a member of the Future United Party who emphasized tolerance toward the man in his 50s who threw a shoe at President Moon Jae-in, pointed out that "the less mature a democracy is, the harsher the punishment for insulting the head of state."

On the 19th, Ha said on Facebook, "I suggested to President Moon to embrace the citizen who threw the shoe, but a media outlet said that the Iraqi citizen who threw a shoe at Bush received a three-year sentence."

Earlier, Ha referred to the incident in December 2008 at a press conference in Iraq where an Iraqi journalist named Muntadhar al-Zaidi protested against the U.S. invasion of Iraq by throwing shoes twice at President George Bush while cursing, but President Bush expressed that he did not want to punish him. Ha emphasized, "President Moon should do the same as former President Bush."

He mentioned the media report that the journalist was sentenced to three years, saying, "I know. But the court that sentenced him to three years was in Iraq, not the U.S.," and added, "He received three years in the Iraqi court, but he would have been acquitted in the U.S. court."

Ha said, "The less mature a democracy is, the harsher the punishment for insulting the head of state. North Korea is a representative example," adding, "The crime of insulting the leader is punishable by public execution and extermination of three generations."

He pointed out, "The problem is the future vision of the Republic of Korea that pro-Moon supporters desire," and said, "Would pro-Moon supporters be satisfied with a three-year sentence for insulting President Moon, like in Iraq? Those who mercilessly trample on the dignity of the Seoul sexual harassment victim for fear of harming President Moon will want harsher punishments for insulting him."

He continued, "But the bigger problem is that pro-Moon supporters are very biased about the punishment for insulting the president," saying, "Insulting President Moon is guilty, but insulting former President Park Geun-hye or MB (Lee Myung-bak) is innocent," and added, "Pro-Moon totalitarianism, where insulting pro-Moon is guilty and insulting anti-Moon is innocent, is their dream."

Ha said, "Currently, there is no crime of insulting the president in the Republic of Korea," and added, "During the dictatorship era, the crime of insulting the president was abused, so it was abolished with democratization. Our history has viewed the presence or absence of the crime of insulting the president as a standard between dictatorship and democracy."

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