By Park Si-soo
Thought is free. If it spills out and you’re caught for it, you have to pay the price.
Kim Yong-min, the 37-year-old former podcaster, who gained popularity for swearing without boundaries, has refused to buckle under pressure.
Some in the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) are calling on Kim, who is standing in next week’s parliamentary elections, to quit for offensive remarks he made previously.
But the DUP is careful about openly ditching him because he has a big following among young people and dropping him out off the ticket may give the impression that the party is yielding on freedom of expression issues andto the ruling Seanuri Party’s onslaught.
Apparently mindful of the adverse situation, Kim is running his campaign in a subdued manner.
Kim became famous for lampooning conservative President Lee Myung-bak and his policies in a super popular three-member podcast program, titled “I’m a Petty-minded Trickster.” (Naneun-ggomsuda)
His presence on the weekly-updated show, which draws more than 10 million listeners, was a key reason behind the DUP’s selection of Kim as its candidate for Nowon-A electoral district in Seoul. The district was once represented by another host of the show, Chung Bong-ju who has been imprisoned for spreading false information about the President.
By all accounts, Kim’s remarks were extremely offensive.
“Let serial killer Yoo Young-chul sexually assault Rice,” he said on an Internet talk-show in 2005, referring to then U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Asked about how to oust then U.S. President George W. Bush, he answered Bush would have no other choice but to leave, if Korea took all U.S. troops here hostage and killed them one-by-one.
Regarding the way to increase Korea’s birthrate, he said the country should allow three largest TV stations to play porn films after midnight and weekends and sell aphrodisiacs disguised as pills for contraception. He also frequently used slang portraying the sexual organs of men and women during the show.
Such offensive remarks were revealed by a video clip posted early this week on video-sharing website YouTube. Amid spiking condemnations and demands for his resignation, he offered a public apology, saying he felt a strong sense of responsibility for making “inappropriate” remarks.
On the heels of the apology, however, he came under a fresh criticism due to another posting of remarks deriding the elderly.
In another show aired in 2005, Kim was asked about how to “sweep away the overly reacting and insane elderly” from the Seoul Station. He suggested the removal of elevators linking the subway and the station as a resolution.
In Korea, senior citizens are generally viewed as conservative-minded and pro-President Lee.
The DUP has remained silent, taking a wait-and-see attitude. Chairwoman Han Myeong-sook said she was taking this seriously with a great concern in a private meeting, but has made no official comment as yet.
The ruling Saenuri Party is intensifying pressure on him, demanding his withdrawal.
“I could not endure to listen to the full clip,” said Cho Yoon-sun, a Saenuri spokeswoman. “I was compelled to think that Kim was mentally ill and a sexual deviant.”