"Independence Activist Lived Carelessly" Yoon Seo-in's Outrageous Remark... Jang Jun-ha's Son Says "More Sad Than Angry"

Webtoon Artist Yoon Seo-in's Controversy Over Offensive Remarks [Image Source = Yoon Seo-in SNS Capture]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Eun-young] Ho-jun Jang, son of the late independence activist Jang Jun-ha, expressed his feelings of sadness in response to webtoon artist Yoon Seo-in's post that questioned, "Did pro-Japanese collaborators live diligently while independence activists lived carelessly?"

On the 16th, Mr. Jang wrote on his Facebook, "I feel sad rather than angry," adding, "Of course, if it were just nonsense from some crazy person, I could dismiss it, but looking back, I wonder if I haven't just lived carelessly but lived in vain."

He continued, "After hearing those words, I realized my father was an independence activist, and I am a descendant of an independence activist," and said, "I need to live more 'diligently' and resolutely." Mr. Jang is currently engaged in pastoral work in Connecticut, USA.

Earlier, on the 12th, Yoon posted on his Facebook a photo comparing the houses of descendants of pro-Japanese collaborators and independence activists, writing, "While the descendants of pro-Japanese collaborators live so diligently, what exactly have the descendants of independence activists done? If you look closely, even 100 years ago, the so-called pro-Japanese collaborators were people who lived diligently, and independence activists were people who lived carelessly, weren't they?"

The photo showed a neat and modern-looking house belonging to the descendants of pro-Japanese collaborators and a somewhat shabby house of the independence activists' descendants with earthen walls and a slate roof.

After Yoon's post sparked controversy, he immediately deleted the post. However, he soon posted again, saying, "One good thing about attracting wide attention (aggro) is that more people listen to me. My interest is not in coins but in enlightenment and expansion. Enlightenment and expansion inevitably come with criticism."

A national petition demanding punishment for Yoon Seo-in, who uttered abusive language toward independence activists and their descendants [Image source = Screenshot of the Blue House National Petition post]

Netizens who saw the post criticized it, saying, "Are you sane?" and "How can you think like that unless your ancestors betrayed the country?" On the 14th, a petition titled "Please punish the cartoonist who insulted independence activists" was posted on the Blue House's National Petition Board. As of 11:40 PM on the 17th, 67,492 people had signed the petition.

Meanwhile, Jeong Cheol-seung, president of the Korean Legislative Studies Association and a lawyer (31st Judicial Research and Training Institute), announced plans to file a lawsuit. On the 16th, he wrote on his Facebook, "Regarding defamation of independence activists, I am considering filing not only a criminal complaint but also a claim for a small amount of compensation. The Liberation Association has about 8,000 members who are direct descendants of those awarded medals or honors for independence activities, and including collateral relatives, there are at least tens of thousands of households and hundreds of thousands of people nationwide who are descendants of independence activists," warning, "Yoon Seo-in must make a lot of money. If he wants to pay for his sins with money..."

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