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[Editorial] “Mind your own business, fake president”
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  • November 18, 2025 at 9:26 PM
기사수정
  • 'The Decision is Mine, the Responsibility is Yours'... The Reason Why Fakes Emerge
  • Daejang-dong appeal abandonment: no procedure, no responsibility, no explanation.
  • What qualifications does an evasive leader have to speak of 'national sovereignty'?

A hidden hand rewriting laws and erasing verdicts. But the people know. [Graphic=Hanmi Ilbo]

Listening to President Lee Jae-myung's recent remarks brings to mind a line from Park Chan-wook's film, "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance."


"You mind your own business."

The shortest and most accurate response to hypocrisy. Those words are now being directed at the President.

A leader's virtues are not grand. They boil down to five core principles.

First, Responsibility. Making decisions and bearing the consequences.

Second, Moral Authority. Proving it through one's life, not just words.

Third, Crisis Management. Not shifting blame during chaos.

Fourth, Self-Reflection. Not attributing failures to external factors.

Fifth, Judgment and Balance. Making decisions based on the common good, not personal gain or emotion.

These five are the minimum requirements for any leader, in any era, under any system.

Let's apply these standards to the President's recent statements.

On the 13th, the President stated at a meeting with senior secretaries and aides, "Even a minor judgment by a public official can change the lives and deaths of citizens." However, the question on everyone's mind today is singular: Is the President applying these words to himself?

The decision to drop the appeal in the Daejang-dong case was the most honest test of that question. Following the President's remarks at the State Council, the Minister of Justice intervened, and the prosecution dropped the appeal. The prosecution's leadership team sequentially offered their resignations. Despite this, the Presidential Office only stated, "We were not involved."

The process was not disclosed, and no one acknowledged responsibility. The public witnessed the judiciary's role in judgment being replaced by an internal political decision of the administration.

And it doesn't end there. A bill to remove the word "act" from Article 250, Paragraph 1 of the Public Official Election Act is awaiting a plenary session in the National Assembly. This law is the very provision applied to President Lee Jae-myung himself.

Article 250, Paragraph 1 of the Public Official Election Act is designed to punish not only false statements but also "false acts." The "act" requirement is a key element consistently applied by the Supreme Court in cases of election law violations by politicians, including the ruling on Lee Jae-myung. No citizen will accept the nullification of precedents through legislation as reform.

The Lee Jae-myung administration is now effectively leading discussions to reduce or abolish the crime of breach of trust to mitigate its own criminal risks. The election law seeks to erase the provision under which he was implicated, and the discussions on breach of trust aim to weaken a provision that could implicate him in the future. If the law is amended, those involved in the Daejang-dong scandal will be released, and recovering even the approximately 40 billion won would become virtually impossible. How can this be called institutional reform?

The moment questions like, "Do crimes change if the law is changed? Can verdicts be overturned by holding power?" arise, a leader's moral authority loses its persuasiveness.

Crisis response also deviates significantly from normal leadership. After the dropped appeal, the prosecution service is in disarray, and a purge operation, dubbed "Investigation of Participants in the December 3 Emergency Martial Law," has begun across the public service. To seek a breakthrough in crisis by "cell phone censorship" is abnormal. This is not about reinforcing public order but an act of dictatorship demanding obedience from public officials.

Above all, the Lee Jae-myung administration deflects all criticism as "political revenge" or "conspiracy of rebellion." They speak of responsibility but show no remorse, and speak of ethics but lack self-reflection. The leader's language has devolved from persuasion to a tool for self-protection through excuses.

At this point, it is no wonder that the word "fake" is openly circulating about a president who has been in office for less than a year. In this context, we are faced with two questions and one conclusion.

"In a country where a special prosecutor is appointed for the Chae Sang-byeong incident, why is the President's own case concluded without explanation or procedure? What right does a leader who demands discipline from subordinates yet evades responsibility have to speak of national sovereignty?"

This is a sign of a "nation where responsibility is dead and power is privatized."

A leader is not someone who preaches about responsibility, but one who quietly takes responsibility first. The President's current remarks are closer to those of a defendant than a leader.

Therefore, we are compelled to recall that line again. And this time, we return it as a final warning.

"You mind your own business, fake president."

 

#Editorial #SympathyForLadyVengeance #MindYourOwnBusiness #ElectionLawAmendment #NullifyingPrecedents #DaejangdongAppealDropped #BreachOfTrustReductionDebate #OverturningVerdictsByLegislation #PowerWithoutResponsibility #OutofBodyPolitics #HanmiIlbo


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