By Kim Hyo-jin
Opposition lawmakers said Friday they had received a flood of derogatory text messages from citizens, presumably supporters of President Moon Jae-in, because of their tough questioning of Prime Minister-designate Lee Nak-yon during a confirmation hearing.
On the second day of the two-day hearing, Thursday, some lawmakers complained of nonstop message alerts on their phones throughout the day. One even complained he could not sleep all night.
“Strangers have bombarded me with text messages even through mobile messenger Kakao Talk and left malicious comments on Facebook. They even made phone calls late at night. They seemed to be totally nocturnal. I received messages mainly at night,” said Rep. Kim Kwang-soo of the minor opposition People’s Party.
“I just couldn’t sleep,” Rep. Park Myung-jae of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) said, calling it a “bombing” of text messages.
Kim said about 2,500 text messages denouncing his performance at the hearing had flooded his phone in less than two days. Other opposition lawmakers also received over 1,000 messages after pounding the prime minister nominee with allegations including one concerning his son’s exemption from military service.
Some messages even included swearing or threats to their family members, they said. One message Kim showed to reporters reads: “I would dig up your own private life first. Your parents or siblings are all doomed.”
Phone numbers of the lawmakers remain public after anonymous internet users distributed them late last year when there was high public interest in whether the motion to impeach then-President Park Geun-hye would be passed at the Assembly.
An opposition lawmaker, who then was a ruling party member, recalled it was hard to be nonchalant at that time in the face of hundreds of profanity-laden messages.
Some claim it should be understood as public participation in politics, saying criticisms against the move could constitute freedom of expression.
“Taking issue with people’s direct participation is an insult to democracy,” Rep. Park Kwang-on of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) wrote on Facebook. “It’s the era where you cannot do politics while being authoritative toward citizens.”
“It’s just because people now find it natural to engage in politics directly. They stopped alienating themselves from politics and started seeing the lawmakers as public servants,” said Kim Ou-joon, founder of the Ddanzi Ilbo online newspaper.
The main opposition party, however, raised its voice, saying the mass texting undermines representative democracy. “It’s more like a terrorist attack on us,” said Chung Woo-taik, the LKP floor leader, blaming the President’s fandom.
Lee Taek-gwang, a culture critic and professor at Kyung Hee University, noted it reflects distorted expectations of Moon supporters on the new government.
“They originated from the fandom of the late President Roh Moo-hyun. Their trauma of seeing the failure of the Roh government made them extremely defensive of journalists and opposition parties. They are expressing their wish that the government led by Moon, a carrier of Roh’s legacy, ends up successful,” he said.