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Yoo Si-min's 'Lee criticism' sparks backlash from ruling party lawmakers
🇰🇷 South Korea /Elections & Politics

Yoo Si-min's 'Lee criticism' sparks backlash from ruling party lawmakers

From Dong-A Ilbo · () Korean

Translated from Korean, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • Members of South Korea's Democratic Party have strongly criticized author and commentator Yoo Si-min for his recent remarks about President Lee Jae-myung.
  • Lawmakers called Yoo's comments "absurd speculations and curses" and likened him to a shaman rather than a writer.
  • Yoo had previously criticized President Lee's leadership style as "arrogant" and described his attempts to influence the ruling party's leadership selection as reminiscent of monarchy.

Prominent members of South Korea's Democratic Party have launched a sharp rebuke against author Yoo Si-min following his recent critical commentary on President Lee Jae-myung. The lawmakers collectively dismissed Yoo's remarks as "absurd speculations and curses," with one legislator controversially labeling him a "shaman" rather than a writer.

Absurd speculations and curses

— Democratic Party lawmakersDescribing Yoo Si-min's criticism of President Lee Jae-myung.

Rep. Chung Jin-wook took to Facebook to state that Yoo has contributed nothing to society, calling his recent commentary "the tragedy of Shaman Yoo." Rep. Park Jie-won urged Yoo to "come out" and pursue his agenda if he truly intended to destabilize President Lee and aid opposition forces, suggesting Yoo's actions were detrimental to the legacy of the candlelight revolution. Minister of Planning and Budget Park Hong-keun, who also holds a legislative seat, cautioned against such "random curses," emphasizing the importance of not betraying shared foundations.

Shaman Yoo's tragedy

— Rep. Chung Jin-wookReferring to Yoo Si-min's commentary.

Yoo Si-min had appeared on a YouTube channel the previous day, characterizing President Lee's performance over the past year as that of an "arrogant ruler." He further criticized the President's alleged efforts to handpick the ruling party's leader as an act befitting a monarchy or aristocracy. Yoo also praised the party members for supporting a particular faction during the recent party convention, a stance that has drawn internal party debate.

If you truly want to shake President Lee and help the forces of rebellion seize power, come out and go that way.

— Rep. Park Jie-wonChallenging Yoo Si-min's intentions.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Dong-A Ilbo in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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