Cho Kuk "Yoon Seok-yeol 'If not for COVID-19 in Daegu, would there have been a rebellion'?…Time for citizens of other regions to respond"

Former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyun-joo] Former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk strongly criticized former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol's remark about the "COVID-19 rebellion."

Earlier, on the 20th, Yoon visited Daegu and directly attacked the ruling party, saying, "In Daegu, to stop the spread of COVID-19, instead of supporting the efforts of medical staff and citizens, reckless and crazy remarks like locking down Daegu as was done in Wuhan were being made."

He continued, "COVID-19 was contained because it started early in Daegu," adding, "If the initial outbreak had been in a region other than Daegu, there would have been no orderly treatment or medical care, and a rebellion would have broken out first."

In response, on the same day, former Minister Cho shared Yoon's remarks on his Facebook, criticizing Yoon by saying, "It is time for citizens of regions other than Daegu to answer."

Criticism targeting Yoon's remarks is also coming from the Democratic Party of Korea. Song Young-gil, leader of the Democratic Party, pointed out, "Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, also said not to engage in unfair political attacks," adding, "Even Lee said not to do such politics, so Yoon's remarks are too outdated. Forced criticism is old-fashioned politics."

Former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk posted on his Facebook on the 20th, criticizing former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol's remarks. Photo by Former Minister Cho Kuk Facebook capture.

Meanwhile, Yoon sparked further controversy by mentioning a 120-hour workweek. He said about the Moon Jae-in administration's 52-hour workweek policy, "It is a failed policy. When I met startup youths, they complained about wanting exceptions to the 52-hour workweek," adding, "Instead of 52 hours a week, people should be able to work hard for up to 120 hours a week and then rest as much as they want."

Former Minister Cho criticized this, saying, "Working 24 hours a day, five days a week equals 120 hours. This is a proposal that opens the 'horizon' of mass overwork deaths."

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