[Full Text] Moon Jun-yong "Cannot Accept Criticism of Livelihood... The People Would Overlook It, But They Are Distorting It"

"Those Attacking the President Are Even Disrupting My Livelihood"

President Moon Jae-in's son, Moon Jun-yong.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] Moon Jun-yong, son of President Moon Jae-in, said on the 30th, "Criticism of the president's son is acceptable, but I cannot accept criticism of my livelihood."

On the same day, Moon posted on his Facebook, stating, "I am also a citizen of this country and just an ordinary person, so I believe my livelihood has the right to be protected."

He criticized, "Politicians criticize me through mass media as a means to attack the opposing camp's president. Therefore, I point out that their intentions are malicious."

He added, "Even so, I think criticism of the president's son is something anyone can do naturally," and explained, "For example, criticism of apartment sales is possible, so I did not respond."

Moon pointed out, "The problem is that those who want to attack the president are even interfering with my livelihood as a media art artist," and critically addressed the recent incidents that happened to him point by point.

He said, "Stop criticizing my solo exhibition as it concerns my livelihood," and "please do not make baseless allegations about irregularities in the grant screening process. This undermines the legitimate evaluation of artists. If whatever I do is always said to be backed by my father, how am I supposed to build professional authority?" he questioned.

Regarding some criticisms that "the president's son received grants," he reiterated, "I wrote an explanatory post about the purpose and usage of the grant and clarified that there is no problem."

Moon said, "Despite these incidents, my posts on Facebook were interpreted as rude messages directed at the public," and added, "Originally, I thought some malicious people were distorting matters that the public would not have taken issue with, so I posted messages targeting them."

He continued, "I will accept it as criticism of the president's son," but added, "However, for this to be considered legitimate criticism, they must also stop indiscriminate criticism of my livelihood."

Earlier, Moon had applied for the 'COVID-19 Emergency Art Support' and received 14 million KRW in grants from Seoul City, which drew criticism from opposition parties. At that time, he explained, "The 14 million KRW COVID support fund is not money given to artists as income but money used for exhibitions and artwork production."

The following is the full text of Moon Jun-yong's Facebook post.

Criticism of the president's son is acceptable, but I cannot accept criticism of my livelihood.

Politicians criticize me through mass media as a means to attack the opposing camp's president. Therefore, I point out that their intentions are malicious. Even so, I think criticism of the president's son is something anyone can do naturally. For example, criticism of apartment sales is possible, so I did not respond.

The problem is that those who want to attack the president are even interfering with my livelihood as a media art artist. I will organize the incidents that happened to me this time.

- Criticism of holding a solo exhibition: Please stop as it concerns my livelihood.

- Allegations of irregularities in grant screening: Please do not make such baseless claims. This undermines the legitimate evaluation of artists. If whatever I do is always said to be backed by my father, how am I supposed to build professional authority?

- Criticism of the president's son receiving grants: I wrote an explanatory post about the purpose and usage of the grant and clarified that there is no problem.

- Many people intruded and disrupted the exhibition venue.

- Some held group gatherings. (I could not count exactly, but about 10 people)

Despite these incidents, my posts on Facebook were interpreted as rude messages directed at the public. Originally, I thought some malicious people were distorting matters that the public would not have taken issue with, so I posted messages targeting them. Was I mistaken? I will keep in mind that this has become the case. I will accept this as criticism of the president's son. However, for this to be considered legitimate criticism, I think they must also stop indiscriminate criticism of my livelihood. I am also a citizen of this country and just an ordinary person, so I believe my livelihood has the right to be protected.

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