Gwangju Cafe Owner Criticizing Moon: "Received Phone Bombs After Cho Kuk's Tweet... Apologize"

"Phone Bombarded Due to Tweet Implying I'm Ilbe Member"
"Former Minister Cho Cannot Escape Moral Responsibility"

Gwangju Metropolitan City cafe owner Bae Hooncheon demanded an apology from former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk. / Photo by Facebook capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] A cafe owner in Gwangju Metropolitan City, who suffered threats and insults from some hardcore supporters after criticizing the Moon Jae-in administration's policies, demanded an apology from former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk. He claims to have been harmed due to Cho's so-called 'targeting'.

On the 28th, cafe owner Bae Hooncheon wrote on his Facebook, "I thought former Minister Cho was someone who did not know how to apologize, but he even corrected and apologized for mistakenly misspelling a surname," and added, "Could it be that Congressman Kim Hak-yong is a high-ranking person while Bae Hooncheon is just a small business owner, so he is being ignored?"

Previously, in his recently published book "Cho Kuk's Time," Cho Kuk mistakenly wrote the name of former Saenuri Democratic Union lawmaker Shin Hak-yong as Kim Hak-yong, a former member of the United Future Party (predecessor of the People Power Party). Regarding this, Cho Kuk bowed his head and apologized on Facebook on the 24th, saying, "I am deeply sorry."

Regarding this, Bae said, "Someone who looked at former Minister Cho's finger and then attacked me called me a 'bug' and 'worse than a cockroach.' Is that what former Minister Cho thinks?" and demanded, "(Cho Kuk) should apologize."

He emphasized, "You will never be free from the moral responsibility of encouraging the branding of me, Bae Hooncheon, with stigmas such as 'Ilbe cafe owner,' 'far-right group leader,' and 'People Power Party's front organization politician.'"

Mr. B claimed that former Minister Cho bears some responsibility for the 'phone bombing' aimed at him. / Photo by Facebook Capture

Bae appears to claim that former Minister Cho Kuk bears some responsibility for the abusive and threatening calls he recently received from hardcore supporters of the government and ruling party targeting him.

Earlier, on the 12th, Bae appeared under his real name at the 'Manmin Debate' held at the Gwangju April 19 Revolution Memorial Hall, drawing attention by harshly criticizing the Moon Jae-in administration's economic policies.

At the debate, he said, "For us small business owners, the Moon Jae-in administration was truly a disaster, a great disaster," and criticized, "Last year, in the face of the COVID disaster, what kept us from going bankrupt and helped us survive was not the government's disaster relief funds but Baedal Minjok (a food delivery service)."

After making such remarks, Bae reportedly received threatening calls from some hardcore supporters, including questions like "Are you a member of the People Power Party?" and warnings such as "You won't be able to operate your business."

Regarding this, Bae claimed in an interview with a media outlet, "After former Minister Cho Kuk posted a broadcast criticizing me on social media, the phone bombing started." At that time, Cho Kuk shared on Twitter a broadcast by a YouTuber who claimed, "Bae is not just a simple small business owner but a co-representative of a group with alt-right characteristics."

On the 16th, Bae also wrote on his Facebook, criticizing Cho Kuk, "Because of your tweet implying that the identity of the Gwangju cafe owner is part of the Taegeukgi Brigade and Ilbe, I had to change my store phone to an answering machine."

He added, "To satisfy your voyeurism that only looks at the finger and not the moon, I have publicly revealed all my fingers in reply to your tweet, so please be sure to check it," urging, "Please stop that grotesque curiosity."

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