"Chopsticks" Malicious Comment About Lee Joonseok's Mother... Referred for Violation of Sexual Crime Law
by Kim Hyunjeong2
Published 14 Mar.2026 14:05(KST)
Explicit Comment Posted Using Mother’s Real Name
"Wrote the Comment to Inflict the Same Humiliation"
A man who deliberately mimicked the "chopsticks remark" made by Joonseok Lee, Representative of the Reform New Party, in a malicious online comment has been referred to the prosecution.
According to Yonhap News Agency and legal sources on March 14, the Gangseo Police Station in Seoul referred a man, identified as Mr. A, to the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office without detention at the end of January on charges of violating the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment, etc. of Sexual Crimes (obscene acts using communication media), for posting sexually explicit comments online.
Mr. A is accused of leaving a sexually explicit comment on social media in October of last year, mentioning the real name of Representative Lee’s mother and using expressions such as "chopsticks."
Previously, on May 27 of last year, during a televised presidential debate, Representative Lee created controversy by posing a question to Kwon Youngguk, the Democratic Labor Party candidate, using expressions such as "a part of a woman's body" and "chopsticks." At the time, Representative Lee argued that his remark was merely a citation of a comment reportedly posted by the son of then-Democratic Party candidate and now-President Lee Jaemyung on an online message board.
When Mr. A appeared for police questioning following Representative Lee’s complaint, he reportedly stated that he wrote the comment "to make the politician he supported feel the same sense of humiliation." The police determined, based on Supreme Court precedents, that the desire to obtain psychological satisfaction also constitutes a sexual motive, and thus Mr. A’s actions constituted a violation of the relevant sexual crime law.
Meanwhile, Representative Lee was reported by civic groups for his remarks during the televised presidential debate, but was cleared of all charges.
On November 25 of last year, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Public Crime Investigation Unit and Cyber Investigation Unit announced that they had decided not to refer any of the seven complaints related to Representative Lee. At the time, civic groups had repeatedly reported Representative Lee for alleged violations such as slander against a candidate and dissemination of false information under the Public Official Election Act.
The police judged it difficult to definitively consider Representative Lee’s remarks as false. The investigation result notification prepared by the police stated, "It is difficult to reject Representative Lee’s claims, and there is insufficient evidence to conclude that he was aware the remark was false at the time." The police further determined that, since Representative Lee’s comment cited an unknown high school student’s slur and did not pertain to candidate Lee Jaemyung, the slander charge could not be established. Kim Yeongi, attorney at Chungjeong Law Firm and Representative Lee’s legal counsel, stated that the police’s decision was "the result of a legitimate investigation."
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