The article was originally published by Chosun Ilbo and translated by OKN Correspondent.
It was found on the 16th that the police used the font of the late Shin Young-bok, a former professor of Sungkonghoe University, five times during the Moon Jae-in administration. Shin was imprisoned for 20 years for involvement in the Unification Revolutionary Party—a North Korea-linked underground party organization. As the police—now in charge of anti-communist investigations—have used the font of a representative criminal in its motto and slogan design, it has become controversial whether it is appropriate to use Shin’s font.
According to the information by Assemblyman Soo-young Park from the People’s Power Party on the 16th, the National Police Agency spent 500 USD on making a placard with Shin Young-bok’s font on July 23, 2020, at the farewell ceremony of the 21st chief of the agency. The Police Agency also spent 250 USD on the next day, July 24, to design a placard with Shin’s font for the inauguration ceremony of the 22nd chief. On August 7 of the same year, the police prepared a 180 USD placard with the same font for the inauguration ceremony of the 36th chief of the Seoul Police Agency. On January 4, last year, at the opening ceremony of the National Police Agency, 500 USD was spent on making a placard with Shin’s font. On July 9, at the inauguration ceremony of the 37th Seoul Police Agency chief, a 190 USD-worth placard was created with the same font.
The Moon Jae-in administration frequently used Shin Young-bok’s font in national agencies advertisements. In June last year, the National Intelligence Service engraved its new motto in Shin’s font. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency also used his font on the placard of the inauguration ceremony of the new chief. Shin Young-bok, a former professor at Sungkonghoe University, was involved in the Unification Revolutionary Party incident in 1966 and served 20 years in prison for violating the National Security Act. He died in 2016.
People inside and outside the police have mentioned that certain officials, such as the former police agency chief Ha-yeon Jang, was likely to push it ahead. Former agency chief Jang, a graduate of the Police Academy, was dispatched to the Blue House Office of State Affairs immediately after the inauguration of the Moon Jae-in administration. He worked with Keon-young Yoon, then head of the office (currently a member of the National Assembly), a confidant of former President Moon Jae-in. Jang is also a relative of Ha-seong Jang, former Ambassador to China, who served as the chief presidential secretary for policy of the Blue House. Former President Moon Jae-in always cited former Professor Shin as a thinker he admires, and Assemblywoman Min-jung Ko and former Blue House Protocol Secretary Hyun-min Tak are known as his followers.
During the 2012 presidential election, former President Moon used promotional brochures for his motto “People First” in Shin Young-bok’s font. He also used the former Professor Shin’s handwriting as background for a commemorative photograph in 2018, when Kim Yo-jong of North Korea was invited to the Blue House. Furthermore, in his welcoming speech at the opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, President Moon even referred to former Professor Shin as “a thinker he admires.”
