Kim Jong-un supporters slam subway ads rejection
Members of the welcoming committee of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s planned visit to Seoul call for Seoul Metro to approve their request to place ads to welcome Kim, during a press conference in Sinchon, Seoul, Monday. / Korea Times photo by Jung Hae-myoung
By Jung Hae-myoung
A student group has denounced Seoul subway operator's rejection of its request to place ads on subway stations to welcome North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during his anticipated visit, claiming the rejection came from negative public opinion caused by conservative civic groups and media.
The Welcoming Committee of the Great Man ― referring to Kim ― said the conservative daily Chosun Ilbo and some other conservative groups are discouraging their efforts to create a peaceful mood between the two Koreas, at a press conference in Sinchon, western Seoul, Monday.
The committee has raised 3 million won ($ 2,667) since Nov. 30 to place ads at subway stations. Its plan was reported by the Chosun Ilbo soon after, before the committee actually made the request through an ad agency.
When the committee filed for the request, Seoul Metro, the operator of Seoul's subways, rejected it, saying it does not allow “opinion advertisements” related to gender, politics, religion or ideology that can cause social conflict among various interest groups. The subway operator has been refusing such ads following controversy in January over President Moon Jae-in's birthday celebration ads placed by his supporters.
The committee claimed the rejection came from “persistent noise-making from conservative media.”
“Seoul Metro did not think the ad was political until the conservative press contacted Seoul Metro several times to cover the story,” Kim Soo-keun, the leader of the committee, told The Korea Times.
“Later, we only received a simple reply from the advertising agency that the ad is not permitted because it is an 'opinion ad'”
Seoul Metro said it is discussing guidelines for opinion-based ads and plans to come up with them around February next year.
Publishing ads at subway stations, which became controversial with Moon's birthday ads, also rose again in August when a Sookmyung Womens' University activist group tried to post an ad promoting feminism.
“The subway station is a place providing convenience to everyone, not a place for debate,” Kim Tae-ho, the CEO of Seoul Metro, posted on his Facebook at the time.
The welcoming committee was launched on Nov. 24 to welcome Kim Jong-un on his possible visit to Seoul. Kim Soo-keun, the leader of the committee, became a controversial figure after he shouted “I love communism,” during a press conference at the center of Gwanghwamun Square on Nov. 26.
He also caused a stir during an interview with a KBS program as he said he has become a fan of Kim Jong-un due to his humble attitude, leadership, capability, and the North's economic development under his leadership.
On the other side of the committee's press conference site on Monday, members of Hwalbindan, a conservative activist group, held placards calling the committee “crazy” for welcoming the North Korean leader, and shouted in rage, “Why they are in support of a person who killed their ancestors?”