"'Hong Eo Junpyo Controversy' Seo Min: 'I Feel Sorry to Yoon Rather Than to Honam People'"

Resumption of Activity 12 Days After Declaring SNS Hiatus

Professor Seo Min of Dankook University (left), who appeared as a guest on the live broadcast of the YouTube channel 'Choi Guk's Culture War' on the 14th. Photo by YouTube capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] Professor Seo Min of Dankook University, who publicly supported Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, and later declared a suspension of social media activities amid the so-called 'Hong-eo Junpyo' controversy, has appeared on YouTube.

Professor Seo appeared as a guest on the live broadcast of comedian Choi Guk's YouTube channel 'Choi Guk's Culture War' on the 14th.

Earlier, on the 31st of last month, Professor Seo used the expression 'Hong-eo Junpyo' in the thumbnail (preview image) of a video posted on his YouTube channel 'Gisaengchung TV,' which sparked controversy over disparaging the Honam region. In response, he said, "I have committed a grave sin," and announced, "As an act of apology, I will suspend my activities on my blog, Facebook, and YouTube for the time being." However, he resumed his social media activities in less than two weeks.

Professor Seo appeared on the broadcast wearing a wig. Regarding the reason for wearing the wig, he jokingly said, "Out of a sense of self-restraint, I originally planned to go to the hair salon but canceled it and didn't cut my hair. Since I didn't wash my hair, it grew this long."

Regarding the suspension of 'Gisaengchung TV,' he said, "I thought it was right to stop Gisaengchung TV as an act of apology," adding, "It was painful and regrettable for me to close that channel, but I have completely shut down Gisaengchung TV."

Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, is holding a press conference at the Seoul Foreign Correspondents' Club in the Korea Press Center, Jung-gu, Seoul on the 12th. Photo by Yonhap News

When a viewer asked in the chat during the broadcast, "Why are you showing self-restraint over something insignificant, Professor?" he replied, "Because I am no longer a leftist," and expressed regret over suspending his YouTube activities again, saying, "It's unfortunate and painful that I can't work with the PD of Gisaengchung TV." He also added, "I completely deleted the (Gisaengchung TV) channel. I wanted to show that I sincerely reflect on my actions."

Regarding the 'Hong-eo Junpyo' controversy, Professor Seo said he felt especially sorry to candidate Yoon, emphasizing, "My existence is no longer much help to candidate Yoon, and that is why I declared that I would stop my blog and Facebook activities."

He continued, "I truly had no intention to disparage any region," and said, "So rather than feeling particularly sorry to the people of Honam, I felt sorry to candidate Yoon and the many people supporting him."

Professor Seo also mentioned his online disputes with netizens who criticized him after the controversy, saying, "There were people who tried to attack me, and I couldn't hold back and engaged in keyboard battles. I shouldn't have done that, but honestly, it felt relieving."

When asked if candidate Yoon or his campaign contacted him after the controversy, he replied, "They contacted me and said it was okay."

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