Rep. Hong Ki-won, a foreign affairs expert within the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, criticized the Israeli Foreign Ministry's response to President Lee Jae-myung's social media post condemning Israel's human rights violations, calling it "gravely inappropriate conduct."
Hong, a member of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, appeared on MBC Radio's "Kim Jong-bae's Focus" on Tuesday and said, "It is gravely wrong for the Israeli Foreign Ministry to issue a statement condemning and denouncing our president."
"If a country has complaints or something to say about a foreign leader's message, the diplomatic convention is to convey that message through diplomatic channels," Hong added.
President Lee shared a video on his X (formerly Twitter) account on January 10 purportedly showing Israeli Defense Forces dropping a Palestinian child from a rooftop, writing that "the Holocaust and wartime killings are no different."
The Israeli Foreign Ministry responded the following day, stating, "President Lee made remarks belittling the Holocaust on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day," and added that "this is unacceptable and we strongly condemn it." The ministry pointed out that the video was filmed in September 2024 and was not from the current conflict, and that the account President Lee cited has been known to spread disinformation about Israel.
President Lee responded with further criticism, expressing "disappointment that they could not even once reflect on the global outcry against their continuous anti-human rights and anti-international law actions that cause suffering worldwide."
South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs also weighed in on its official X account, stating that "the President was expressing his belief in universal human rights, not an opinion on a specific issue," and expressing "regret that the Israeli Foreign Ministry misunderstood the intent of the post and rebutted it."
Hong described President Lee's post as "unusual," but said it appeared to "express concern about the attacks on civilians that Israel has carried out in Gaza and the indiscriminate attacks on Lebanese civilians following the U.S.-Iran ceasefire."
Regarding why the president cited a past incident rather than directly condemning the current Lebanon bombings or ongoing conflict, Hong suggested that "directly mentioning recent events would have been burdensome for him."
"The video he posted this time involves what is clearly recognized by everyone as a war crime. It seems he chose an indirect way of conveying his message," Hong said.
