Shinsegae vice chair started a movement among conservatives
The vice chairman of South Korean retailer Shinsegae is facing attacks from local leftists for using the hashtag “annihilate communism.” They are organizing a movement to boycott the conglomerate’s stores and other franchises. Conservatives, on the other hand, do not understand why the liberals are so sensitive about the term “annihilate communism” and are showing their support for the conglomerate by using that hashtag on their social media platforms.
Chung Yong-jin, retail giant Shinsegae Group’s heir and Vice Chairman, used the hashtag multiple times recently. He made remarks criticizing communism alongside pictures of Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. The group owns department stores, the supermarket chain E-Mart and operates Starbucks in South Korea. He is a very influential person on social media and has 757,000 Instagram followers.
Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate from the conservative People Power Party (PPP), uploaded a photo on his Instagram over the weekend that showed him purchasing anchovy and beans at an E-Mart store in Seoul. He used the hashtag “anchovy” and “bean.” The term “annihilate communism” is pronounced “myul-gong” in Korean. The first Korean letter of anchovy in Korean is “myul” and bean is pronounced “kong.”
Choi Jae-hyung, former chairman of the Board of Audit and Inspection under the Moon Jae-in administration who ran as a PPP candidate during the presidential primary, also posted a photo of him eating breakfast with dishes made with anchovies and beans. Na Kyung-won, who was floor leader of the conservative party, also posted a photo on her Instagram showing her purchasing the same anchovy product that Yoon bought. She used the hashtags “annihilate communism” and “freedom.” This became a meme on the internet, and the media is calling it the “annihilate communism challenge.”
Liberal politicians, on the other hand, are criticizing Chung’s comments, saying they are insensitive towards the relations with China in particular.
Song Young-gil, the head of the ruling Democratic Party (DP), mentioned Chung’s comments at a meeting held at the National Assembly on Monday. “The opposition party has been attacking the Moon administration by saying that the administration divided people and had them confront each other,” he said. “But they are now trying to create conflict and framing some people due to their ideology to win the election. I think they are so childish and do not deserve to run the country.”
Yoon Ho-joong, the floor leader of the DP, said the PPP should have asked people to refrain from joining the “annihilate communism” joke played by a childish CEO of a retail company, but they are joining the movement instead. “The PPP seemed that they were becoming a more moderate party, but they seem to have returned to the far-right conservative camp while playing the Ilbe game.”Ilbe is an internet forum in South Korea that is often portrayed as far-right.
“Has he been jealous of Elon Musk impacting the crypto market with his tweets?” said Kim Tae-nyeon, a member of the DP, on Facebook. “His remarks could have a major impact on South Korean companies and workers doing business in China.”
Shinsegae’s Chung responded to these political attacks through Instagram.
“The phrase ‘annihilate communism’ has nothing to do with China. I don’t care at all about other countries having communism or democracy. My ‘annihilate communism’ is for the kids living above us,” referring to North Korea.
Some politicians argued that Chung is trying to enter politics.
“I was born in a business family and I will live and die as a businessman. I don’t have any concerns about my future career so do not dare say politics,” he wrote. “While doing business, we had to pay more interest when borrowing money from overseas due to them [North Korea] and all investments are withdrawn when they fire missiles. Did you guys experience any of this?”
He added that “‘annihilate communism’ could be a political issue to someone, but it is a reality for me. People who know anything about the Korea Discount would not be able to say anything to me.” The so-called Korea Discount refers to a lower price-earnings ratio of Korean stocks relative to global peers due to geopolitical issues.
On social media, Chung posts a lot of photos of foods that he cooked or ate. He writes, “I am sorry and thank you,” referring to the food product. Many people thought that this statement from Chung was mocking a controversial comment by President Moon.
Moon Jae-in, who was then head of the DP, visited a memorial altar of the victims of the Sewol Ferry sinking on March 10, 2017, soon after the Constitutional Court of Korea impeached former President Park Geun-hye. At that time, he wrote the following:
“Guys, you were the starlight of the candlelight plaza. Your souls became the 10 million candle lights. Sorry, thank you.”
At that time, many conservatives questioned what Moon meant by thanking the victims. The Sewol Ferry incident occurred on April 16, 2014. The ferry sank and 304 people died in the disaster, including around 250 students from Danwon High School. The students were on their way to a field trip. President Park Geun-hye was attacked over this incident by people who raised various false claims such as that she was meeting a ‘gentleman’ at a hotel, or she was sleeping after receiving reports on the incident. These claims were raised since she allegedly appeared at the Central Disaster Management Headquarters 7 hours after she received the first report.
The candlelight protest has been the symbol of people attacking Park. This led to the 2016’s so-called “meddling with state affairs” scandal and large-scale candlelight protests calling for her impeachment.
Meanwhile, Thae Yong-ho, a former senior North Korean diplomat and current lawmaker from the PPP, said that the “annihilate communism” movement that was popular in the 1960s and 1970s was brought up again in 2022 because of Moon Jae-in’s servile attitude toward China and North Korea during the past five years. “Moon called South Korea a small country in China,” Thae said. “North Korea has been developing its nuclear program aimed at South Korea but Moon continued to pursue servile diplomacy. I think this caused the reaction.”
In the face of advancing communist threats in the region, South Koreans such as Chung are increasingly outspoken about the need for a tough anti-communist stance.
