1st Generation Current Affairs Commentator Yoo Chang-sun Passes Away

Published 23 Dec.2024 10:27(KST)

Political commentator Yu Chang-seon passed away on the morning of the 22nd due to a chronic illness. He was 64 years old.

Yu graduated from Yonsei University with a degree in sociology and worked as a political research fellow at the Korea Social Research Institute in 1990 before serving as an aide to former Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Bu-young. He built his reputation over more than 30 years as a "first-generation political commentator." During the Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye administrations, he was perceived as a progressive commentator and faced exclusion from various broadcasts. In his book I Am Right and You Are Wrong, he urged reflection within the progressive camp, stating, "Under the Moon Jae-in administration, which claimed to be a candlelight government, if you think differently from me, you are condemned as a deep-rooted evil, and if your opinion differs, you are stigmatized as a 'native Japanese collaborator.'

After undergoing brain tumor surgery in 2019, Yu continued writing while undergoing rehabilitation. Since July 2022, he had been contributing political columns to the opinion section 'Nondan' of Asia Economy. His major works include Goodbye No Wind (2007), Rediscovery of Politics (2012), Is It Okay to Live Like This? (2016), Life Is Love and Struggle (2017), and Art First Encountered at Fifty (2024).

He is survived by his wife Kim Kyung-sook and children Eun-seo and Eun-chae. The funeral is being held at Seoul National University Hospital Funeral Hall, with the burial scheduled for the 24th.

Reporter Jo Young-chul