Kang Jun-man: "The Moon Administration's Fatal Mistake Was 'Demonizing Yoon'... Mistaking Stubbornness for Conviction"

"Yoon's Political Involvement Should Be Asked to Moon Jae-in and Chu Mi-ae"
"More Weight on Moon Administration's Self-Destruction Than Yoon's Experience"

Kang Jun-man, Professor Emeritus, Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Jeonbuk National University. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] Professor Kang Junman, emeritus professor of the Department of Journalism and Broadcasting at Jeonbuk National University, commented on the political participation of Yoon Seok-yeol, the leading opposition presidential candidate and former Prosecutor General, saying, "The fatal mistake of the Moon Jae-in administration was the 'demonization of Yoon Seok-yeol,'" and added, "I want to place more weight on the 'self-destruction' of Moon administration figures, including Lee Hae-chan, rather than Yoon Seok-yeol's inner strength."

Professor Kang made this analysis through the social critique magazine The (THE) Inmulgwa Sasang, which officially resumed publication after a 1 year and 9 months hiatus since September 2019.

In an article titled "Did Choo Mi-ae and Yoon Seok-yeol Use Each Other?", Professor Kang pointed out, "The fatal mistake of the Moon Jae-in administration was the 'demonization of Yoon Seok-yeol.' To reinforce their justification, an all-out 'demonization of the prosecution' was attempted," and added, "Even if there were serious problems with the prosecution that justified 'demonization,' it was only a part of the prosecution, not the whole."

Regarding Yoon’s political participation, he remarked, "Shouldn't the responsibility be asked of Choo Mi-ae and Moon Jae-in?" He analyzed that the ruling party’s excessive focus on attacking Yoon Seok-yeol resulted in a sharp rise in his presidential approval ratings, thereby highlighting his political presence even more.

He then criticized the current government, saying, "It is the height of hypocrisy to maintain the bad practices of previous administrations for the sake of their own regime's security," and evaluated, "The institutional reforms pushed through by force are clearly going to cause significant side effects and will be criticized for a long time to come.

Professor Kang further pointed out that the biggest problem with President Moon was "mistaking stubbornness for conviction," adding, "This is not only true for personnel appointments but also for the passage of various bills and all major policies."

Professor Emeritus Kang Jun-man of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication at Jeonbuk National University’s single-author quarterly magazine "THE People and Ideas"./Photo by People and Ideas Publishing House

Regarding former Prosecutor General Yoon, he said, "I want to place more weight on the self-destruction of Moon administration figures, including Lee Hae-chan, rather than Yoon Seok-yeol's inner strength," and analyzed, "They frequently use words like 'gangster' or 'mobster' when criticizing Yoon Seok-yeol. What does this indicate? It suggests that they have lost normal judgment due to hatred and disgust toward Yoon Seok-yeol."

Professor Kang also emphasized, "I am not saying that Yoon Seok-yeol is qualified to be president," and added, "Rather than attacking Yoon Seok-yeol, progressive media should faithfully play the role of helping the Moon administration correct its own problems. Wouldn't that be the best way to bring Yoon down?"

Meanwhile, in the first issue of THE Inmulgwa Sasang published that day, Professor Kang focused on recent political topics such as "Why is Kim Jong-in always 'betrayed'?", "Why doesn't Moon Jae-in change?", and "Ko Min-jung, why does she wear ill-fitting clothes?". THE Inmulgwa Sasang is Professor Kang’s solo publication and will be released once every three months.

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