'Give Me a Helicopter Ride Too' Jung Yura, "Leftists Sue? Pitiful, Did I Commit a Crime?"
Published 05 Jan.2024 15:05(KST)
"Let me ride a helicopter too" Controversy over Lee Jae-myung's critical post
"The left says they will sue, but what will they sue for?" he questions again
Jung Yura, the daughter of Choi Seo-won (formerly Choi Soon-sil), who is imprisoned for the Park Geun-hye government’s state corruption scandal, has repeatedly criticized the 'helicopter privilege controversy' related to Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who was attacked during a schedule in Busan.
On the 4th, Jung posted on her social media (SNS), "If it wasn’t an emergency situation, then taking the helicopter is the problem, and if it was an emergency, then going from Busan to Seoul is the problem," repeatedly posting about Lee. She also said, "The leftists say they will sue me, but what will they sue me for? Is it a crime not to feel sorry for Lee Jae-myung?" and sharpened her words, "I only asked to be taken by helicopter, but people might think I wanted Lee Jae-myung to die."
The day before, Jung targeted Lee by saying, "I spaced out and hit a corner hard, bleeding and swollen, please put me on a helicopter. It’s bigger than 1.5 cm. Oh no, I’m dying. Maybe a vein is torn." Jung’s remarks are interpreted as a jab at the controversy over Lee’s helicopter transfer from Busan National University Hospital to Seoul National University Hospital, which raised questions about preferential treatment.
As the post caused controversy, Jung added, "If you (Lee Jae-myung supporters) also think it wasn’t an emergency, then taking the helicopter is the problem, and if it was an emergency, then going from Seoul to Busan is the problem, so are you going crazy?" She continued, "You always insist without logic, so all I can say is don’t criticize sick people. When former President Park Geun-hye was attacked in 2006, it was during former President Roh Moo-hyun’s administration, so is it Roh’s fault?"
Meanwhile, since Lee’s attack on the 2nd, there has been ongoing controversy within the medical community about whether his condition was serious enough to warrant helicopter transport from Busan to Seoul and the reasons for his transfer from the regional trauma center to Seoul National University Hospital.
At a briefing on the treatment progress at Seoul National University Hospital on the 4th, Min Seung-gi, a professor of transplant vascular surgery who performed Lee’s surgery, stated, "Reconstruction surgery of the jugular vein or arterial vessels is highly difficult and the success of the surgery cannot be guaranteed, so an experienced surgeon was needed." He added, "We accepted the request from Busan National University Hospital and prepared for the surgery."
However, a representative from Busan National University Hospital rebutted on the same day, saying, "We did not request the transfer to Seoul National University Hospital first; the transfer was decided based on requests from Lee’s family and the Democratic Party." They added, "This is the first case of a trauma patient visiting the regional trauma center at Busan National University Hospital being transferred to another hospital."
The Busan Medical Association issued a statement that day condemning the Democratic Party of Korea, saying, "We denounce the Democratic Party for ignoring the local medical community and trampling on the medical delivery system." They criticized, "If the patient’s condition was very serious, surgery should have been performed at Busan National University Hospital, a regional tertiary hospital, and if not, the patient should have been transferred to a local general hospital by regular transport, not by helicopter." They also demanded that the Democratic Party immediately apologize to local citizens and medical professionals.
Earlier, on the 2nd, at around 10:27 a.m., Lee was stabbed in the left side of his neck with a weapon by Kim (67) near Daehang Observatory in Gadeokdo, Gangseo-gu, Busan. After the attack, Lee was admitted to Busan National University Hospital and then transferred by helicopter to Seoul National University Hospital, where he underwent about two hours of jugular vein vascular reconstruction surgery and is currently recovering.
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