Yoo Si-min: "Instead of lamenting the absent Roh Moo-hyun, focus on treating Lee Jae-myung well"

Candidate Yang Moon-seok apologizes for derogatory remarks about late President Roh Moo-hyun
Yoo Si-min says, "Focus on Lee Jae-myung, who is still alive"

Former Roh Moo-hyun Foundation Chairman Yoo Si-min commented on Democratic Party candidate Yang Moon-seok's disparaging remarks about former President Roh Moo-hyun, saying, "Instead of feeling sorry for the late President Roh Moo-hyun, do better by the party leader who is still alive."

Yoo Si-min, former chairman of the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation.

On the morning of the 18th, Yoo, appearing on the YouTube broadcast 'Humility is Hard - News Factory,' was asked how he viewed Yang's disparaging remarks. He replied, "In a word, nonsense," adding, "It is too obvious that such remarks cannot be a criterion to judge whether someone is qualified for public office." Yoo stated, "There have been more than a few politicians in our National Assembly who have disparaged, mocked, or slandered former President Roh Moo-hyun," and "Neither the media nor political critics have ever said that any of those people are unqualified to be members of the National Assembly."

Yoo also said, "One may dislike politician Yang Moon-seok for making such remarks," but drew a line by saying, "Using those remarks as a barrier to entry, claiming 'you are not qualified to hold public office,' is an act of insulting former President Roh." He continued, "If the president were alive, it would have been a trivial matter ending with something like, 'Well, come and see me,'" and "The very idea of having to give up candidacy over this is absurd."

When host Kim Eo-jun laughed and asked, "Why are we suddenly having a 'Roh Moo-hyun, I loved him more' contest?" Yoo responded, "Instead of feeling sorry for the late President Roh Moo-hyun, do better by the party leader who is still alive." He added, "The criticism was not recent but made 16 years ago," and "While people may like or dislike him because of that, trying to expel him is a form of deifying former President Roh. Carrying on Roh Moo-hyun's spirit does not mean doing such things."

Yang Moon-seok Apologizes for Past Columns... Visits Bongha Village to Pay Respects

Yang Moon-seok, the Democratic Party of Korea candidate for Ansan Gap in Gyeonggi Province, paid respects at the grave of former President Roh Moo-hyun and expressed his apology.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Earlier, candidate Yang published a column titled "Lee Myung-bak and Roh Moo-hyun Are Similar Defective Products" in 2008 while serving as Secretary-General of the Media Solidarity. The column criticized former President Roh for pushing the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement, calling him a "defective product." Another column, "The Original Sin of Importing Crazy American Beef Lies with Roh Moo-hyun," stated, "I cannot help but feel disgusted toward Mr. Roh Moo-hyun, who enjoys elegance as a retired president." Although calls for Yang's resignation arose within the party, leader Lee Jae-myung defended him, citing "freedom of expression."

On the day of the broadcast, Yang visited Bongha Village in Gimhae, the hometown of former President Roh, bowing his head in "apology to the bereaved family and to the people who liked and missed former President Roh Moo-hyun." He also paid respects at the former president's gravesite, expressing his remorse.

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