Yoo Sang-beom on Claims of Mistranslation in President Yoon's WP Interview: "Fact-Checking Was Inadequate"

Published 25 Apr.2023 22:04(KST)

"Approach Commentary with a Slightly More Cautious Attitude"

Yoo Sang-beom, Chief Spokesperson of the People Power Party. [Photo by Yonhap News]

Regarding the opposition's criticism of President Yoon Suk-yeol's remarks in his interview with the U.S. Washington Post (WP), Yoo Sang-beom, the senior spokesperson of the People Power Party, who raised the possibility of mistranslation during the translation process, retracted his claim, admitting that he was "insufficient in fact-checking."

According to Yonhap News on the 25th, Yoo said in a phone interview with the media, "I will approach commentary with a more cautious attitude."

Earlier, in the WP interview released the previous day, President Yoon said, "Using events from 100 years ago to say to (Japan) 'Absolutely not,' 'You must kneel unconditionally' is unacceptable," which drew criticism from the opposition, accusing him of "representing Japan."

In response, the People Power Party suggested the possibility of a mistranslation. Senior spokesperson Yoo issued a statement saying, "It should be interpreted as '(Japan) cannot accept being told absolutely no, absolutely kneel down,'" and added, "The Democratic Party, without verifying the actual remarks, stirred anti-Japanese sentiment based on a possible mistranslation during the English translation process."

The political circles continued to debate over whether the subject of the predicate "cannot accept" was Japan or President Yoon.

As the controversy escalated, the WP reporter who conducted the interview with President Yoon released the transcript on Twitter. The transcript shows that President Yoon said, "Really, using events from 100 years ago, even though Europe has experienced several wars and those horrific wars, the countries involved in the wars cooperate for the future, but using events from 100 years ago to say absolutely no, absolutely kneel down?this is something I cannot accept."