The cover of the full audio recording file of the so-called "sister-in-law profanity" call, released in 2021 by the pro-Moon Jae-in group "Awakened Citizens' Solidarity Party." [Source: Awakened Citizens' Solidarity YouTube] 

A middle school in Gangdong-gu, Seoul, recently attempted to stock Lee Jae-myung’s autobiography and a biography of his life as "recommended reading." I would like to ask the planners of this absurd farce, born from blind idolization: How thick is your skin, exactly?

Why would you seek to stock the life story of a figure whose very existence causes fatal harm—even to adults with sound judgment—in a middle school library for teenagers whose values have yet to be formed? What did you intend to teach them? The trajectory of Lee Jae-myung that they wanted children to read is less of a human resume and more of a perfect "note of wrong answers," encompassing every conceivable form of crime and expediency.

His track record on basic family ethics is already a failing grade. He attempted to forcibly hospitalize his brother in a mental institution over personal grievances and unleashed unspeakable, disgraceful profanities at his sister-in-law.

Though he boasted about raising his son to be a respectable man, the son’s reputation was stained by allegations of illegal gambling and frequenting sex work establishments. Yet, when these explosive controversies erupted, Lee coldly distanced himself, claiming, "An adult son is a stranger." This double standard and cruelty—discarding even one's own flesh and blood like excess baggage depending on political expediency—is bizarre, like watching a tragic comedy.

His sense of responsibility as a public official is even more appalling. He often posed as a competent administrator who looked after everything from street pavement blocks to major projects, yet when problems arose involving business documents worth hundreds of billions of won where he was the "final approver," he shamefully feigned ignorance.

His cold-bloodedness in throwing subordinates—who had shown him absolute loyalty—under the bus, dismissing their actions as mere individual misconduct while they teeter on the edge of ruin, is reminiscent of a psychopath.

His economic sense and respect for the law cross into the realm of criminality. During the presidential campaign, he laughingly shared a "heroic tale" of how he bought a stock on a friend’s recommendation, only to realize it was a manipulation scheme, and then sold it at the peak just before it crashed.

Testimonies of treating public servants like personal slaves—even making them wash his underwear—as well as controversies over proxy prescription of medication, and a criminal record that includes drunk driving and impersonating a prosecutor... Was it their goal to teach children that the ruthless logic of a beast, which survives by any means necessary, is actually "competence"?

The truly terrifying thing about this "note of wrong answers" is that it does not remain confined to past mistakes; it constantly evolves into forms that threaten the entire national economic system.

The book in question (right) and a childhood photo of Lee Jae-myung.  

The "seller loan" (seller financing) practice, spreading like a toxic fungus in the recent real estate market, is the very crystallization of this evolved malice. This deformed scheme—where a seller transfers ownership before receiving the full price, taking a mortgage on the remaining balance—mockingly renders the Debt Service Ratio (DSR) regulations, implemented by the state to prevent an explosion of household debt, completely impotent.

If housing prices fall or the buyer fails to pay the balance, it triggers a chain reaction of insolvency where the proceeds from an auction cannot cover the debts, as the bank’s senior mortgage and the seller’s junior mortgage become hopelessly entangled. It is a massive game of "passing the bomb" that disrupts not just private transactions, but the entire financial system and market order.

Who was the person responsible for elevating this dangerous gamble, which leaves even experts aghast, into a "hip trend" in the capital market? It was none other than Lee Jae-myung himself, who, while selling his own Bundang apartment, facilitated a mortgage of 1.7 billion won to pocket a profit of 2.5 billion won.

While preaching to the common people not to borrow money to buy homes, he was secretly mocking national real estate regulations through the most sophisticated form of private leverage, effectively distributing a "tutorial for clever schemes" to the market.

In this fallen republic, where the life story of a man who dons the mask of a leader while distributing a guidebook on greed tries to pass as recommended school reading, we must engage in some serious reflection.

On this wasteland where expediency becomes a skill and shamelessness is displayed as a model, how shall we prove the value of honest labor to the next generation? A nation where the moral compass is shattered and only schemes continue to evolve has no future.

◆ Park Joo-hyun, Writer

A composer, music director, columnist, and essayist. She actively voices her opinions on political, current, and social issues on Facebook, earning the empathy of many. She is the author of the essay collection *Crossing the Stormy Sea*.