Yoo Seung-min: "Moon Administration Neglected COVID in Detention Centers... How Is It Different from the Sewol Ferry Captain?"

"Serious Life and Human Rights Violations... What Does President Moon Think?"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Former People Power Party lawmaker Yoo Seung-min criticized on the 2nd regarding the COVID-19 cluster infections at Seoul Eastern Detention Center, saying, “There are serious violations of life and human rights occurring in detention centers and nursing hospitals, but the Moon Jae-in administration insisted only on cohort isolation and neglected the lives and safety of these people. How is this different from the Sewol ferry captain who told passengers to ‘wear life jackets and wait’?”

On the same day, Yoo said on Facebook, “People are being driven to death in detention centers and nursing hospitals right now, so what exactly does President Moon Jae-in think about their human rights and lives?” He added, “Although they committed crimes and are imprisoned, they should not have to endure the additional punishment of COVID-19 infection. Even if they are old and sick in nursing hospitals, they should not have to leave this world early without seeing their beloved families because of COVID-19.”

Yoo emphasized, “The government’s responsibility for endangering the lives and human rights of the people in detention centers and nursing hospitals must be thoroughly investigated. Even now, the president must do his utmost to save these lives and prevent such incidents from recurring.” He stressed, “The value of human rights and life is not a selective value that differs depending on the person or political camp. It is a universally valid human dignity and value.”

Yoo said, “People like President Moon and the late former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon are so-called ‘human rights lawyers.’ My first doubt about President Moon’s human rights stance was in 2007.” He continued, “When the Roh Moo-hyun administration abstained from the UN resolution on North Korean human rights, there were rumors that Moon Jae-in, then Chief of Staff, advocated abstention, and the foreign minister at the time later made similar claims. I still cannot understand why different standards are applied to the human rights of South Korean citizens and North Korean residents.”

Yoo added, “My second doubt was President Moon’s completely different attitude toward the victims of the Sewol ferry disaster and the Cheonan ship sinking. While he said ‘thank you’ to the Sewol victims, it took five years just to acknowledge the ‘North Korean torpedo attack’ on the Cheonan victims, and he was very reluctant to attend memorial services. Recently, he also remained silent until the end regarding the allegations of power-based sexual crimes involving Park Won-soon and Oh Keo-don.”

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