In Moon's Posted 'Australia Selfie'... Yoon: "The Country Faces Numerous Deaths, Yet Still Only Shows and Self-Praise"

"The President's SNS Should Feature Stories of Medical Staff and the People"

Photo by Moon Jae-in, captured from Facebook

Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, is speaking at a virtual meeting on the issues and improvement measures of COVID-19 held at the Korea Medical Association in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 16th. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, criticized President Moon Jae-in on the 17th, saying, "The president's social media should feature stories of medical staff and citizens fighting against COVID-19, not selfies at tourist spots." This was a rebuke of President Moon taking commemorative photos with tourist attractions as the background after his visit to Australia.

On the same day, Yoon wrote on his Facebook, "I speak with sincere concern," and opened by saying, "The daily number of COVID-19 cases is about to exceed 10,000, deaths are occurring one after another, and the medical system can no longer hold on?this is the current situation our country faces."

He continued, "However, the Moon Jae-in administration is deceiving even itself. That is why it calmly goes all the way to Australia, where there are no urgent diplomatic issues, and posts selfies taken at the Sydney Opera House on social media," he claimed.

Yoon strongly criticized, "The most frequently pointed out problem with the Moon administration's governance is the show and self-praise," adding, "A president who only cares about approval ratings, and aides who flatter and incite such a president?this government is a disaster for the people."

On the 15th, President Moon Jae-in, who completed a state visit to Australia, left a message on social networking service (SNS). / Photo by Facebook capture

Earlier, President Moon conducted a four-day visit to Australia from the 12th to the 15th. Afterwards, on President Moon's official Facebook account, a 'selfie' was posted showing Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia and his spouse together with President Moon and his wife, with the Australian Opera House as the background.

The opposition party immediately reacted against this. Jang Young-il, the standing deputy spokesperson of the People Power Party's Central Election Countermeasures Committee, issued a statement on the 16th, saying, "President Moon angered the public by posting a photo taken with the prestigious Sydney Opera House as the background after finishing his visit to Australia," and criticized, "The bright smiles of President Moon and his spouse against the backdrop of a tourist spot overlap with the urgent faces of medical personnel who are crying out."

Kim Byung-min, spokesperson for the same party's Central Election Countermeasures Committee, also pointed out in a statement, "Although the number of COVID-19 cases is breaking records daily and the medical field is practically collapsing with the people's suffering reaching its peak, President Moon was not by the people's side in this moment of crisis."

However, Tak Hyun-min, the Blue House Protocol Secretary, responded on his Facebook on the same day to the opposition's criticism, calling it "malice that uses the expression of goodwill and friendliness from the head of a host country as a reason to criticize the president."

He added, "While it may benefit them, it causes great harm to national interests," and pointed out, "The Australian Prime Minister and the Australian people will also see these comments and articles. I hope they think about how the opposition's remarks, which attach all sorts of words to a single photo taken at a friendly event at the urging of their own prime minister, will be understood."

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