"Glad You Returned"... '1.06 Million Followers' Jo Guk Twitter Suddenly Deleted Then Restored

Suddenly Deleted and Restored on the Afternoon of the 14th
Jo Guk's Twitter Activity Spanning Over 12 Years
Some Criticize 'Jomandae Janggyeong'

Former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk's deleted Twitter account on the afternoon of the 14th. / Photo by Cho Kuk Twitter Capture, Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] Former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk's social networking service (SNS) 'Twitter' account, which he had used for over 12 years, was suddenly deleted and then restored, drawing attention. Former Minister Cho had been expressing his views on political and social issues candidly through this account.

On the 14th, many posts appeared on SNS and online communities stating that former Minister Cho's Twitter account had been deleted. In fact, when accessing his Twitter profile that afternoon, only the message "This account does not exist" appeared on a blank page. It is known that this message appears when a user deletes their account themselves or when the account is deleted due to violation of Twitter's operating policies.

However, around 3:50 PM, former Minister Cho's Twitter account was restored. All the tweets he had posted remained, and the number of followers, which had reached about 1.06 million, was also restored.

Former Minister Cho opened his Twitter account in 2009 while serving as a professor at Seoul National University and had been actively using it until recently. He had posted over 17,900 tweets as of this month, and his follower count reached 1.06 million.

Former Minister Cho's Twitter account was reportedly restored again around 3:50 PM on the same day. / Photo by Twitter Capture

He usually expressed his opinions on political and social issues through this account.

In his most recent tweet on the 27th of last month, he wrote, "I thought my family would gather and eat a warm meal together tonight, but it turned out to be a vain hope. I thank the citizens who sent comfort and encouragement," and added, "I would appreciate it if you could now focus on the upcoming presidential election that will determine the fate of the country. I am very worried that advanced South Korea might become recklessly backward due to the election results."

Some critical netizens nicknamed former Minister Cho's Twitter account 'Jomandaejanggyung.' This term combines Cho Kuk's name with 'Palmandaejanggyung' (the Tripitaka Koreana), implying that Cho's claims can be refuted by his own past tweets.

In this regard, former Dongyang University professor Jin Joong-kwon also mentioned 'Jomandaejanggyung' in the past and had a dispute with former Minister Cho.

In a tweet from November 2020, former Minister Cho criticized Professor Jin, saying, "Jin Joong-kwon and Kim Geun-sik, two intellectuals who are desperate to attack President Choi Sung-hae and me, complained about my SNS activities. It's ridiculous. The 'bad karma' you have created is accumulating."

In response, Professor Jin sarcastically criticized, "We are still far from reaching the 'Jomandaejanggyung.' How could we possibly accumulate that karma in this lifetime? Even if I were reborn a thousand times, could I dare to accomplish all that karma?"

Meanwhile, regarding the restoration of former Minister Cho's Twitter account, netizens reacted with comments such as "Was it a Twitter error?", "I thought he had permanently 'deactivated Twitter,' but it's nice to see him back," and "Congratulations on your return."

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