Scandal coins new verb: I'm 'sunsiled'

A citizen was photographed holding a self-made placard that reads “I.Sunsil.U,” a parody of Seoul City’s promotional slogan “I.Seoul.U,” with an explanation about how “sunsil” was used as a verb, with “I” being a noun and “U” an object.” / Captured from the Internet

By Lee Han-soo, Park Si-soo

“I am sunsiled!” Can you guess what this mean?

The explosive political scandal sparked by President Park Geun-hye’s shadowy confidant Choi Soon-sil (or Sun-sil) has given birth to a new English verb that criticizes the two figures in a humorous way.

A citizen was photographed holding a self-made placard that reads “I.Sunsil.U,” a parody of Seoul City’s promotional slogan “I.Seoul.U,” with an explanation about how “sunsil” was used as a verb, with “I” being a noun and “U” an object.”

“(V) Sunsil: (1) influence (2) extort. Eg: Be careful, you might be sunsiled.”

This photo has gone viral, creating various meanings of “sunsil” as a verb.

With an investigation of the scandal widening, Choi is believed to have influenced President Park’s decisions for many years and allegedly extorted money from dozens of Korean companies by taking advantage of her close ties to Park.