Gominjeong "Australia and Taiwan Don't Get Vaccinated Even with Vaccines" vs Kang Yongseok "Please Think Carefully"

Attorney Kang Yong-seok. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suwan] Democratic Party lawmaker Go Min-jung introduced countries that have postponed COVID-19 vaccinations and criticized the People Power Party, saying, "Stop the political strife surrounding COVID-19," but faced backlash. Kang Yong-seok, a lawyer who runs the YouTube channel 'Garosero Research Institute' (Gaseyeon), fiercely criticized her, saying, "I hope Go lawmaker thinks carefully. We also have vaccines, but I wish people wouldn't get vaccinated."

On the 12th, Kang pointed out on the Gaseyeon live broadcast, "As of the same day, the number of new confirmed cases is 19 in Australia, 3 in New Zealand, 6 in Taiwan, and 451 in Korea. How can you make such a comparison?"

Kang said, "What’s the difference between telling a starving person, 'In Europe, they don’t eat even if they have food. They are on a diet,'? For those over 60, the fatality rate is different, so it’s a matter of life and death," he pointed out.

He added, "When power starts to be ridiculed, it becomes nothing," delivering a sharp remark.

Ko Min-jung, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, is explaining a bill proposal at the National Assembly plenary session on the 1st of last month. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

Earlier, on the 11th, lawmaker Go shared an article titled 'Why Australia, New Zealand, and Taiwan Have Secured COVID Vaccines but Are Not Vaccinating' on her Facebook, claiming, "A doctor is someone who prescribes treatment considering the patient's condition and surrounding environment."

The article, citing the British daily The Guardian, stated that the mentioned countries are postponing vaccinations to verify vaccine side effects.

Go also urged, "People Power Party should stop the political strife surrounding COVID-19 now," and added, "Please gather wisdom to recover the struggling economy and lead South Korea to become a leading country."

However, some netizens criticized Go’s claims as inconsistent with the reality in South Korea.

According to global COVID-19 statistics sites like Worldometer, the number of new confirmed cases on that day was 19 in Australia, 3 in New Zealand, and 6 in Taiwan. In contrast, South Korea reported 451 new cases on the same day.

Moreover, it was pointed out that unlike the countries mentioned earlier, South Korea had not secured vaccines itself.

One netizen commented, "Shouldn’t you talk about doctors only after securing vaccines? Are you saying it’s okay to take it slow because South Korea has relatively fewer deaths than the U.S.?"

Another netizen said, "The situations of the countries mentioned in that article and South Korea are different," and explained, "Those countries’ governments have secured vaccines but are carefully reviewing safety. However, even if COVID-19 explodes and a crisis occurs, they say not to worry because they have vaccines as the ultimate weapon." He added, "It’s natural to be aggressive in securing vaccines but cautious in vaccination."

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