War of words over President Lee’s social media use on Blue House YouTube channel: “That’s not communication” and “I hope you’ll watch a little longer”

[Financial News] A heated exchange broke out between Her Eun-a, the Blue House secretary for national unity, and Shin Ju-ho, former full-time deputy spokesperson for the People Power Party, over President Lee Jae Myung’s approach to communicating on social media during a Blue House YouTube broadcast.
On the 11th, during the seventh episode of “National Unity, We Need to Talk!” held at the open studio of the Chunchugwan Press Center at the Blue House, Her said President Lee frequently meets with the public in person as well as on social media. “He’s doing a tremendous amount of on-the-ground communication right now,” she said, referring to his frequent weekend engagements. She also explained that when Lee visits people in person, he holds meetings before returning.
Shin, the former deputy spokesperson, said, “I think it’s a good idea for the president to increase his in-person communication,” but added, “It’s time for him to stop using social media.” Referring to Lee, he asked, “Isn’t he engaging in arguments by replying to posts from people who disagree with him even a little?” He criticized him, saying, “Doing only what he wants in a one-way manner is not communication but a declaration.”
Her responded to Lee’s social media posts, saying, “If you read them all the way through, from beginning to end, there’s something a little different from what you think,” and added, “I hope you’ll watch a little longer.” She also said Lee already visits sites focused on people’s livelihoods two or three times a week.
Former lawmaker Kim Yong-nam, who also appeared on the program, said online communication had become more prominent throughout politics. “I think we need to make a more conscious effort to create more opportunities to meet face to face,” he said. He added, “If you give people enough time, what they really want to say comes out.”
There was also a dispute over the launch of a special counsel. Shin claimed, “Aren’t the government and the ruling party trying to launch a special counsel to clear the president of his crimes?” As Her responded, Shin said, “You need to hear this,” then referred to the request to renominate a Supreme Court justice candidate and said, “The president and the ruling party are leading the way in undermining the separation of powers.” Her said, “We need to check the facts more thoroughly before discussing this,” and rebutted as untrue the claim that the government and ruling party were pursuing these measures to extend their hold on power.
Shin and former lawmaker Kim disagreed over North Korea policy. Shin described the landmine incident that injured South Korean service members as “North Korea’s landmine provocation” and said, “The president characterized it as an unforeseen accident.” He claimed Lee used that expression in an effort to pursue a conciliatory policy toward North Korea and bring about an inter-Korean summit. Kim countered that “unforeseen” means unexpected or unintended, saying, “I don’t think it’s quite a natural leap to go that far from the expression ‘an unforeseen accident.’”
Shin, who served as youth spokesperson for Seoul mayoral candidate Oh Se-hoon’s campaign in the June 3 local elections, is the first figure from a conservative party to appear on a Blue House-produced YouTube discussion since the Lee Jae Myung administration took office. Explaining why he appeared, he said, “I was asked not to hold back on blunt criticism, so I came to share a range of views.”
[email protected] Seong Seok-woo Reporter