"Red Commie, Get in a Traffic Accident" Malicious Comments Attack on President Yoon's Interview with Foreign Journalists

A Washington Post (WP) reporter in the U.S. who directly released the transcript file of President Yoon Suk-yeol's foreign media interview, which raised suspicions of mistranslation, is reportedly suffering from 'malicious comments.' During the Moon Jae-in administration, some fervent supporters also bombarded foreign reporters with malicious comments.

Michelle Yehee Lee, the Korean-American WP Tokyo-Seoul bureau chief, shared a screenshot of messages she received on her Twitter account on the 26th (local time), saying, "This is the current state of my email and DMs (direct messages)."

The messages include insults such as "How can someone who looks like you be at the Washington Post pretending to be American," "red commie," and "pest." There are also curses like "get into a car accident."

Hate comments revealed by Michelle Yehee Lee, Korean-American journalist and Tokyo-Seoul bureau chief of The Washington Post (WP). [Image source=Twitter]

원본보기 아이콘

Earlier, on the 24th, Michelle Lee conducted an exclusive interview with President Yoon ahead of his state visit to the U.S. However, some members of the ruling party raised suspicions of mistranslation regarding the interview content, claiming that the subject was missing from President Yoon's remarks.

In response, Michelle Lee directly released the transcript. She stated, "Regarding the translation error issue, I reviewed the interview recording again. Here is the exact wording."

The transcript attached by Lee records President Yoon's statement, including the subject: "I cannot accept this idea of saying no unconditionally and demanding to kneel unconditionally over something that happened 100 years ago." However, despite Lee's direct rebuttal of the controversy, the backlash seems to continue.

This is not the first time a foreign reporter has been bombarded with malicious comments by some fervent supporters. In 2019, when a Bloomberg reporter critical of former President Moon Jae-in published an article, some supporters of the Democratic Party of Korea sent a barrage of messages, causing controversy.

At that time, the reporter's Twitter was filled with harsh insults such as "a traitor who harms national interests," "traitor," and "trash, not a journalist," and personal information such as educational background and past workplaces was also spread.

Netizens expressed concern over the indiscriminate attacks by some supporters against foreign reporters. Comments included, "It seems the country is heading toward extremism," and "Too many people lack basic human decency."

Many comments encouraging Michelle Lee were also posted, such as "This is a sorry and shameful situation. I support you," and "Most Koreans support you who are reporting the truth."

© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.