The blame game within the ruling camp over the June 3 local election results is escalating to the point of directly targeting President Lee Jae-myung. As the leadership race has expanded into a clash between factions, pro-Moon Jae-in voices within the party have begun directly raising the "blame theory" against President Lee. Following YouTuber Kim Eo-jun's introduction of the "core supporter defection theory," writer Yoo Si-min, who has returned to commentary activities, delivered a pointed criticism, saying, "(President Lee) was perhaps overconfident."
According to political circles Friday, writer Yoo made these remarks while appearing on Kim's YouTube channel "Dasboeida," released the afternoon of June 26. He directly stated, "What the people who passionately protected and supported (President Lee) wanted was an extension, but President Lee seemed to want a complete reconstruction." The remarks were interpreted as both a harsh assessment of President Lee's past year and an offensive against the so-called "New Jae-myung" group, President Lee's emerging support base.
Yoo in particular described President Lee's current situation as "an autoimmune disease," saying, "For about a year, immune cells have been attacking their own normal cells rather than attacking and defeating bacteria and viruses that entered from outside." He added, "As a result, I diagnose that metabolic abnormalities are now appearing." His point was that President Lee, in trying to embrace moderate and conservative supporters after taking office, ended up causing the defection of his core support base.
Yoo also openly revealed his antipathy toward "New Jae-myung," which criticizes the pro-Moon camp, saying, "Lumping us together as 'Moon-Cho-Teol-Rae-Yu,' including me, started last December, and the attacks began in earnest from March." He said, "Insulting Moon Jae-in is also insulting Roh Moo-hyun, because Moon Jae-in is Roh Moo-hyun's friend," adding, "Acts of slandering a former president have openly continued inside and outside the party for more than six months, yet no one has stepped forward to confront and refute it."
Amid the overheated competition, concerns within the party are also rising. Rep. Ko Min-jung pointed out in a radio broadcast, "There is a problem awareness about politicians being shaken too much by YouTube."
Kim is the same. On his channel "Humility Is Difficult: Newsgongjang," he criticized President Lee's recent moves, saying, "The core support base is leaving," and "The 'decoupling' signal, in which the president's approval rating and the party's approval rating separate, is very dangerous." The core of the "core support base" diagnosed by Kim is the pro-Roh and pro-Moon support base. In the broadcast that day, he diagnosed, "(President Lee's) act of striking the pro-Moon group is the essence of the recent drop in approval ratings."
When linked to the leadership race situation, these remarks are interpreted as closer to support for former party leader Jung, who has launched a bid for re-election. This is because the tasks they demand, such as the swift completion of prosecution reform, align with Jung's pledges. In particular, Jung, immediately after resigning, posted his resignation statement on the bulletin board of Ddanzi Ilbo, which Kim operates, actively communicating with the users there. He introduced himself as a "Roh Moo-hyun kid" in his resignation announcement and visited former President Moon Jae-in immediately after resigning, pouring all his efforts into winning over the core support base Kim mentioned.
The pro-Lee Jae-myung faction and pro-Lee-leaning YouTubers appear to be strongly pushing back. There are even signs that the Democratic Party leadership race is expanding into a competition among the ruling camp's external speakers. The problem is that in this process, a contest of ideological purity that is difficult to watch is accelerating, with provocative and derogatory remarks pouring out.
Lee Dong-hyung, who operates Lee Dong-hyung TV, countered Kim's "core support base theory," saying, "If they waver, can you call them the core base?" and "They waver because they are soft supporters." Pro-Lee YouTuber Kim Yong-min posted data on his social networking service (SNS) refuting Kim's claims point by point, saying, "The recent drop in approval ratings has more the character of defection among moderates, those in their 20s and 30s, and the Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam region." Targeting Kim, he also criticized, "Now he is committing blatant fraud." Ha Heon-gi, former standing deputy spokesperson for the Democratic Party, criticized, "The bulletin board where former leader Jung writes (Ddanzi Ilbo) has the most forces shaking the president."
After the "Dasboeida" broadcast, posts criticizing writer Yoo poured into "Jae-myung-i-ne Village," President Lee's fan club. One member sarcastically wrote, "(Yoo) compared the current administration to an autoimmune disease, but seems unaware that he himself is becoming a cancer cell." Comments included criticism such as, "President Lee is doing a 'historically great' job, isn't this too excessive?"
As those running popular YouTube broadcasts put forward provocative expressions, the emotional rift among supporters is also deepening. Derogatory terms for the opposing camp, such as "Moon-Cho-Teol-Rae-Yu" and "Han-Gang-Sae-Ttong-Dwae-Ju-Gil," have become everyday language, and supporters wage malicious comment campaigns through "coordinate marking" on articles favorable to each candidate.
