[Report] The 'Julie Men' Eventually Disappeared... The 'Julie Women' Remain Unchanged

Controversy Over 'Yoon Seok-yeol Former Prosecutor General Defamation Mural' on Exterior Wall of a Bookstore in Jongno, Seoul
Civilians in Major Conflict Over 'Freedom of Expression' and 'Political Motives'
Yoon Seok-yeol Camp Condemns Opposition Parties as 'Political Violence and Terror'

On the morning of the 30th, the so-called 'Julie Mural' on the exterior wall of a bookstore in Jongno, Seoul, had the phrases 'Julie's Men' and 'Prosecutors' painted over. A bookstore official who removed the phrases explained, "I erased them for my livelihood." Photo by Yoon Seulgi, intern reporter seul97@asiae.co.kr

[Asia Economy reporters Han Seung-gon, Heo Mi-dam, Yoon Seul-gi] "So, who exactly is Julie?" "Are you ignoring freedom of expression?"

At 9 a.m. on the 30th, the street in Gwancheol-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, where the so-called 'Julie mural' is painted near a used bookstore, appeared mostly quiet. About seven men, seemingly members of a conservative group, gathered in front of the mural, while nearby merchants briefly looked at the mural as they passed by.

The day before, the building owner and bookstore proprietor of the exterior wall where the mural was painted announced that regarding the removal of the 'Julie mural,' only the face of a woman reminiscent of Kim Geon-hee, spouse of former Prime Minister Yoon Seok-yeol, would remain, and the rest would be erased.

By around 10 a.m. that day, only Julie's face remained on the mural, while the phrases referring to 'Julie's men' and prosecutors were all painted over. Although the chaotic situation seemed to have ended, conversations between progressive and conservative supporters gathered in front of the mural still resembled a tense standoff.

A conservative-leaning man in his 40s said through a loudspeaker, "Because fake news is being made, this is the only outcome." In response, a woman in her 40s used a prepared microphone to retort, "The conservatives even talk about the Sewol ferry disaster, which is intolerable." The previous day, nearly 100 supporters from both ruling and opposition parties gathered in front of the mural, causing a major disturbance with harsh insults.

The controversial mural consists of six paintings along the first-floor exterior wall of the bookstore building. The entire mural measures 2.5 meters in height and 15 meters in length. The paintings include the phrase 'Julie's men' along with the inscriptions: '2000 Dr. Amugae, 2005 Chairman Jo, 2006 Prosecutor Amugae, 2006 Prosecutor Yang, 2007 BM CEO, 2008 Announcer Kim, 2009 Prosecutor Yoon Seobang.'

Given the situation, the Julie mural sparked political disputes as well. Former National Assembly member Kim Kyung-jin, who serves as an external cooperation special advisor to former Prime Minister Yoon, appeared on CBS's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' to criticize the appearance of the 'Julie mural' as "political violence and terrorism, an inhumane act that should never be done." He added, "Anyone can infer that the mural was posted with the intent to insult Yoon Seok-yeol, the current opposition presidential candidate," and pointed out, "It can only be evaluated as an act to politically benefit the ruling party."

At around 9:30 a.m. on the 30th, a bookstore official came out and erased the text from the 'Julie Mural.' Photo by Yoon Seulgi, intern reporter seul97@asiae.co.kr

When asked whether the Democratic Party should issue a statement, he criticized, "When the mural appeared, the Democratic Party spokesperson should have immediately expressed a request for its removal to uphold dignity in the presidential election of the Republic of Korea, but only two or three candidates within the party issued shallow messages. The party as a whole did not issue a clear message, nor did the other candidates, which I think is quite problematic."

Earlier, Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party's presidential candidate and governor of Gyeonggi Province, criticized the 'Julie mural' as crossing the line. Nam Young-hee, spokesperson for Lee's campaign, released a statement saying, "Is it acceptable to indiscriminately criticize someone's premarital private life just because she is the wife of candidate Yoon Seok-yeol?" She urged, "Please carefully consider that freedom of expression is not outside the bounds of democratic citizenship." However, she also said, "We need to turn our attention to protecting the public interest of the Korean community," and pointed out, "We must sharpen the scrutiny on allegations such as the Kobana Contents fundraising scandal and the Deutsche Motors stock manipulation allegations."

The opposition strongly opposed the Julie mural. Choi Jae-hyung, former head of the Board of Audit and Inspection and a presidential candidate for the People Power Party, wrote on his Facebook the previous day, "We must not tolerate acts that regress democracy under the name of freedom of expression." He added, "I heard news that a mural defaming candidate Yoon's family was put up. I cannot contain my anger," and said, "This is low-level slander and political violence, a character assassination under the guise of freedom of expression." He further stated, "Engaging in such personal attacks under the pretext of freedom of expression damages the value of democracy," and "It drags down the political dignity of our country."

Amid the controversy over the 'Julie mural,' someone left graffiti with vulgar insults on the mural, defaming the ruling party. Photo by Yoon Seulgi, intern reporter seul97@asiae.co.kr

Assemblyman Ha Tae-kyung also said, "An incident so shameful that it is hard to even speak of. No matter how ruthless politics is, this is unacceptable," and criticized, "If you want to raise issues about the 'First Lady's qualifications,' please clearly define the problem and do so officially."

Assemblywoman Yoon Hee-sook criticized the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and feminist activists. On the 30th, she wrote on Facebook, "Is our country's women's movement only feminism permitted by the ruling party?" She said, "Although the used bookstore owner in Jongno said he would delete the Julie-related phrases and the incident seems to be settling, the message this sends to our politics will last a long time." She added, "This incident is a cruel violence that used a person's 'womanhood' as a tool for political attack," and questioned, "Whether ruling or opposition party, anyone who claims to represent women's rights and gender equality should have raised their voice with a bleeding heart. But where is everyone?"

Meanwhile, bookstore representative Yeo Jeong-won appeared on a radio show emphasizing freedom of expression. Yeo said regarding allegations of opposition party involvement, "I have no religion and do not support either the ruling or opposition parties." She emphasized, "The person herself denied being Julie, and all the men involved denied such facts. I merely used satire."

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