Jo Eunsan Rebuts Lim Taeju: "Is It Justice to Trample on 20 Million People?"

Lim Taeju Criticizes, "Trapped in Bias, Clumsy and Forced"
Jo Eunsan Responds, "I Wrote the Memorial as if Vomiting Blood"

Poet Lim Taeju. Photo by Lim Taeju

[Asia Economy, reporter Hur Midam] Poet Lim Taeju criticized the Cheong Wa Dae national petition "Seven Proposals for the New Year," which drew attention for criticizing the Moon Jae-in administration's mismanagement in the form of a memorial, calling it "deceiving the people." In response, "Jinin (Dustman) Jo Eunsan," who posted the petition, has issued a rebuttal.

On the 30th, Jo Eunsan posted an article titled "A Response to the People, Proposal 1" on his personal blog. Addressing Lim Taeju, he wrote, "Your words, lurking everywhere, are poignant, and yet your writing is beautiful. However, what lies within it is ugly."

Jo Eunsan stated, "I wrote the memorial with a feeling as if vomiting blood and brain matter," and added, "Regardless of legitimacy, those I criticized-comparing them to dogs, pigs, and crucian carp-are someone's children and someone's parents, and I have accumulated my own karma and collapsed under its weight."

He continued, "You cannot even begin to fathom what I risked to write this memorial. Do not try to subdue me with trivial sentiments about ninety-nine sheep, the lost sheep, or shepherds."

He went on to say, "No matter how talented a poet you are, the voices buried in obscurity have even deeper sorrow. If my emotions are revealed, you will have to step back. I have made my own living under the honest beliefs of my parents, never blaming the wealthy or clamoring for more, nor coveting what belongs to others. That is the truth and life of Jo Eunsan you speak of."

Jo Eunsan further criticized, "I have said that fifty million people mean fifty million worlds. But you, citing the nation's homeownership rate, claim there are only thirty million people, and that a world of thirty million tramples a world of twenty million. Does this align with the justice you speak of?"

In conclusion, he appealed, "I ask everyone reading this: the writings of poet Lim Taeju and someone uneducated like myself should not be compared. Please evaluate the writing itself, excluding political positions."

He then addressed Lim Taeju, saying, "I failed to use honorifics while responding to your words. I am much younger than you. I sincerely apologize. Please forgive me," ending his post.

A rebuttal to the "Seven Proposals for the New Year" posted by poet Lim Taeju on his Facebook on the 28th. Photo by Lim Taeju

Previously, on the 28th, Lim Taeju posted a rebuttal to the "Seven Proposals for the New Year" petition on his Facebook page, titled "Royal Response to the Seven Proposals Memorial." If the "Seven Proposals for the New Year" is a memorial submitted by a subject to the king, a "royal response" is a reply from the king to such a memorial.

Lim Taeju commented on the "Seven Proposals for the New Year," saying, "Your sentences were ornate but insubstantial, and you imitated loyalty but it was distorted. You invoked the Constitution, fairness, and the king's self-cultivation."

He continued, "At first glance, it seemed plausible, but it was misleading. It was eloquent, but it deceived the people and disturbed the world. It was trapped in bias, clumsy, and forced. The distance between my truth and yours was so great that it was heartbreaking."

He asked, "Do you still wish for a world of only black and white? Isn't the diversity of opinions-unruly in the royal court, the National Assembly, and the marketplace-precisely what the current Constitution desires? You said to acknowledge the desires of the people. But which people are you referring to? Are you lumping together those blinded by greed, who want more even though they already have much, under the name of 'the people'?"

Lim Taeju added, "All kinds of fabricated rumors circulate in this world. What I truly fear is that intellectuals like you, who are educated and knowledgeable, are too easily swept up and manipulated by these falsehoods."

He concluded, "Reckless bandwagoning is extremely wicked and makes everyone sick. Just as I keep myself in check, I hope you will also be careful and vigilant. Even today, I accept the sighs of the people as my destiny."

Meanwhile, Lim Taeju made his literary debut in 1994 but has not published a poetry collection. Instead, he is well known as the "poet without a collection" and has been more active on social media.

Notably, in 2014, in his essay collection "This Mad Longing," former Justice Minister Cho Kuk wrote a recommendation, saying, "In the writings of poet Lim Taeju, you can smell rice cooking, soybean paste stew simmering, and the scent of flowers," which drew public attention.

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