President Lee Jae-myung delivers a speech at the New Year's reception held at the Yeongbingwan of the Blue House on the 2nd. [Photo = Yonhap News]Online backlash is spreading over President Lee Jae-myung's recent remarks at the Blue House's New Year's kickoff ceremony, where he emphasized the responsibility of public officials by stating, "Civil servants have no closing hours."

Following the public release of his remarks, portal site comments have pointed out that his statement ignores the reality of public servants' working conditions and have criticized his moral qualifications to make such statements.

At the kickoff ceremony held at the Blue House's Yeongbingwan on the 2nd of this month, President Lee said, "One hour for a South Korean public servant is the time of 52 million citizens." He added, "Public servants are people who do public work, and public service exists solely for the betterment of the people's lives."

He continued, "You might criticize it as workplace bullying, but civil servants have no closing hours. Public service is essentially a 24-hour job," he emphasized.

He also mentioned the power and temptations faced by public officials, stating, "Authority is like a sharp blade; depending on how it is used, it can benefit or harm the world."

"Money is the devil. It's the real devil," President Lee added, warning, "The devil appears with the face of an angel, so you can be overcome if you don't constantly refine yourself."

However, online reactions were mixed after the remarks were released.

Comments on related news articles posted on major portal sites on the 6th included numerous criticisms such as, "Does he have the right to say such things?", "He's talking about others as if he's unrelated," and "His words are eloquent, but his actions differ."

The background to these reactions also includes the fact that President Lee is currently undergoing a trial after being indicted by the prosecution on charges of private use of a corporate card during his tenure as Governor of Gyeonggi Province.

Some comments mentioned this fact and raised questions about the appropriateness of his remarks emphasizing morality and self-restraint for public officials.

Criticism of the working environment for public servants also continued.

Comments included points such as, "These are remarks that take public servants for granted and exploit them," and "They demand responsibility without regulating working hours or providing additional allowances."

Notably, there were many responses stating, "It is an assertion that ignores reality to bind high-ranking officials earning hundreds of millions of won annually with the same '24-hour responsibility' as lower-level public servants earning around 20 million won annually."

While some argued that there was no need to make an issue of the remarks because they were internal comments targeted at Blue House staff, many comments focused on the symbolic nature of the remarks and the direction of the message.

The reaction, "It sounds like a lecture from the top down, rather than encouragement or a plea," was also repeated.

By Reporter Kim Young