"Satire is a Right"... SNL Parodies Yoon Administration's 'Silencing'

Kwon Hyuk-soo Dragged Out for Interrupting President's Song
Yoon's Satirical Remarks During Candidacy Revisited

Coupang Play's comedy show 'SNL Korea' featured a satirical 'mouth-covering' scene mocking the excessive security controversy surrounding the Yoon Seok-yeol administration at the KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) graduation ceremony in Daejeon last month.

In the first episode of SNL Korea Season 5 aired on the afternoon of the 2nd, Kim Min-kyo, dressed as President Yoon Seok-yeol, said, "105 years ago, our ancestors launched the March 1st Movement with a belief in freedom," adding, "In conclusion, nothing should harm the spirit of that freedom. Satire is SNL's right, so we will continue to allow it freely. I wanted to say this."

A satirical scene of 'Ipteulmak' appeared in the first episode of Coupang Play's 'SNL Korea' Season 5 on the 2nd.
[Photo by SNL Korea broadcast capture]

This recalled when President Yoon, as a presidential candidate in October 2021, appeared on SNL Korea's 'Reporter Joo Goes' segment, where Joo Hyun-young asked, "Will you help SNL freely satirize politics?" and he replied, "That's not helping; it's SNL's right."

The broadcast also included a parody of the so-called 'mouth-covering incident.' Actors reenacted President Yoon singing the song "Uriui Sarangi Piryohaneun Geojyo" ("Our Love Is Needed") by singer Byun Jin-sub with presidential office staff during last Lunar New Year.

During this, when Kwon Hyuk-soo began to show off his singing skills with high notes, an actor dressed as a security guard covered his mouth and dragged him out the door.

Kwon Hyuk-soo shouted, "Let go, let go! Please let me ad-lib," as he disappeared. Kim Min-kyo, playing President Yoon, and other cast members calmly finished the song.

At the KAIST graduation ceremony on the 16th, when President Yoon said in his congratulatory speech, "To make a quantum leap as a science powerhouse, we will significantly expand the research and development (R&D) budget," Shin Min-ki, spokesperson for the Green Party Daejeon City Party and a graduate at the time, shouted, "Stop boasting and restore the R&D budget."

Spokesperson Shin was then escorted out with his mouth covered and limbs lifted by security guards present at the scene.

Last month, Lim Hyun-taek, president of the Korean Pediatric Society, was denied entry to a medical reform public discussion chaired by the president at Bundang Seoul National University Hospital and was escorted out with his mouth covered by security staff.

Earlier in January, Kang Sung-hee, a Progressive Party lawmaker, shook hands with President Yoon at the Jeonbuk Special Self-Governing Province inauguration ceremony and asked him to "change the national policy direction," only to be dragged out by security guards.

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