Why Lee took a sharp tone: “I’m reminded of the days when insulting the president was a national sport”

[Financial News] President Lee Jae-myung has hit back at reports criticizing his remarks on a comprehensive farmland survey and foreign workers, among other issues.
On the 28th, President Lee criticized reports about his remarks on the comprehensive farmland survey in a post on his social networking service (SNS), saying, “An era is dawning in which saying you like jajangmyeon is taken as disparaging jjamppong.”
The remarks refer to what President Lee said during a conversation with farmers and fishers on the 26th: “I had originally said we should look into farmland near the Seoul metropolitan area that was being used for speculation, but our minister suggested to me, ‘Since we’re doing that, let’s conduct a comprehensive survey,’ and that’s what we did.”
The “minister” President Lee referred to was Song Mi-ryeong, the minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Some criticized him, saying he was shifting responsibility for the comprehensive farmland survey onto Minister Song.
In response, President Lee stressed, “The farmland survey may face opposition, but it is at the heart of agricultural reform that must be carried out. Since the minister made an excellent proposal, I mentioned that ‘I ordered it, but the minister proposed it’ to give the minister credit.”
He went on to say, “The farmland survey is not something wrong; it is a reform measure worthy of praise,” and noted, “It is common knowledge that the president personally ordered the survey at an open meeting, and having a separate proposer would hardly reduce responsibility.”
He also criticized the media, saying, “When I pointed out that this was a project proposed by the minister, some media outlets criticized it as an attempt to shift responsibility,” and added, “I question whether they actually watched the remarks at the public Cabinet meeting and wrote their reports with even a minimum of journalistic ethics.”
President Lee also added, “Forcing me not to use SNS to communicate directly with the public while distorting the facts is like saying, ‘Even if you’re hit, don’t resist—just take it.’ I’m reminded of those days when insulting the president was a national sport.”
[email protected] Kim Hee-seon Reporter