President Lee: “The backlash against political correctness stems from a mismatch between words and actions, and double standards”

[Financial News] President Lee Jae Myung said on the 2nd, “The reason political correctness is facing public backlash and fatigue today lies not in the values it aspires to uphold, but in the ‘mismatch between words and actions’ and ‘double standards’ inherent in the attitude of those who advocate it.”
The president posted a message on X (formerly Twitter) that morning titled “A Just Society, Proclaimed by the Ringleader of a Coup and Genocide,” writing, “They champion lofty values such as morality and justice, but in practice they are harsh only toward others, applying double standards,” and added this explanation.
The president pointed out, “As this repeated pattern continues—grand words and claims but actions that say the opposite, or leniency toward the failings and wrongdoing of oneself and one’s own camp while being harsh toward others or the opposing camp—people have come to see it not as genuine ethics, but as a ‘means of flaunting moral superiority.’”
He went on to stress, “To earn trust, appearances and reality, words and actions must match; one must be consistent from beginning to end, and hold oneself to a higher standard than others,” adding, “Hypocrisy and double standards strip any cause one champions of its persuasive force. When Chun Doo-hwan, the most unjust figure, proclaimed the creation of a just society, the very words ‘justice’ and ‘just society’ became tainted.”
The president said, “As long as the attitude of applying double standards persists—imposing on others standards one cannot uphold oneself—criticism of and cynicism toward political correctness will be hard to avoid. This is especially true in politics, where the fate of the nation and the lives of its people are at stake: we must be all the more wary of compromised political correctness. For politics to regain public trust, greater effort is needed to align appearances with reality rather than lead with moral slogans unsupported by action.”
The remarks are seen as expressing a critical view of some arguments that emphasize only progressive causes and political clarity amid recent debates, including prosecutorial reform and support for multicultural families.
The remarks are seen as expressing a critical view of some arguments that emphasize only political clarity, amid ongoing recent debates, including the issue of support for multicultural families.
For the sixth consecutive day, the president has been directly expressing his position on social media about reconsidering preferential policies for multicultural families. Earlier, on the 28th of last month, Lee addressed local governments’ preferential systems for multicultural families, saying, “The systems through which local governments, including the Seoul Metropolitan Government, give preferential treatment to multicultural families have become an issue.” He added, “I will look carefully into whether there is a strong need to go beyond ensuring that multicultural families are not harmed and give them preferential treatment, and whether the preferential systems need to be abolished, consulting with local governments and considering even amendments to enforcement decrees.”
On the 30th, he said, “Fairness is a core value of public administration, and it is unrelated to whether the amount is large or small. Unfairness is not acceptable just because the amount or quantity is small.” Then, on the 31st, he said, “The fact that a general claim is right does not mean every specific claim is right,” adding, “We should also consider why people resent remarks based on PC (political correctness), double standards, or factionalism.” He went on to stress, “Acknowledging and correcting the flawed ‘part’ will make support for the necessary ‘whole’ stronger.”


[email protected] Choi Jong-geun Reporter