The presidential office said on the 4th that it had "sternly warned Lee Byoung-tae, vice chairman of the Regulatory Rationalization Committee, and strongly requested that there be no recurrence in the future." Lee had criticized the heavy disciplinary action against the Baejae High School baseball team for mocking the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement, saying "May 18 has become a sanctuary" and calling it "the image of North Korea."
Through a media notice that day, Kang Yu-jung, senior presidential spokesperson, said, "The vice chairman had posted personal opinions on social media," pointing out that "this is misleading and runs contrary to the government's firm stance rejecting hatred and mockery, and is particularly inappropriate conduct for a person in a responsible position at a government-affiliated institution." She conveyed the fact of the stern warning.
Lee had also said in the past that "pro-Japan is natural and normal. Anti-Japan is, conversely, abnormal." He described a memorial event for the Sewol ferry disaster as "a symbol of this society's vulgarity" and sneered at the Moon Jae-in administration as a "parasite regime." Despite such deviant remarks, President Lee Jae-myung, in line with a pragmatism-based personnel approach, appointed him vice chairman of the Regulatory Rationalization Committee, showing sincerity in easing regulations for businesses and the private sector.
Nonetheless, regarding the Baejae High School baseball team's disparagement of May 18, Lee said, "Due to the sanctification of history, even deviations close to a 'prank' by young students cannot be accepted." The Baejae High School baseball team caused controversy by disparaging May 18 against Gwangju Jeil High School, borrowing from Starbucks to shout the mocking chant, "Gotta go, gotta go, gotta go to Starbucks." Lee called this a "prank."
Lee also blamed the heavy disciplinary action again, saying it "has become the 'politics' of adults" and asking, "Is this the best 'educational' solution to make them reflect on their wrongdoing?" He added, "This image is that of North Korea, where people wail at the sight of a newspaper carrying a photo of Kim Il-sung getting wet in the rain, rather than that of South Korea," and, "Does such an unforgiving world look so good? A sanctuary justifies the execution for blasphemy."
The post has since been deleted, but as controversy over his remarks grew, Lee posted again on social media in the early hours of that day, emphasizing that "the core of my opinion is 'freedom of expression.'" Citing John Milton's "Areopagitica," he spoke of the freedom of publication, and referring to the English Bill of Rights, he said it left a precedent that state power cannot arbitrarily punish an individual's expression.
Listing the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, John Stuart Mill's "On Liberty," and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, he emphasized that "a society where fundamental rights are not protected is not a democratic society." He also said, "Denying fundamental rights amounts to denying the very democracy that the Gwangju 'Democratization' Movement pursued." This is read as a view that hatred and mockery of May 18 should also be regarded as fundamental rights and part of the freedom of expression, and greater controversy is expected.
