단상斷想

An article reporting that Moon Jae-in's daughter, Moon Da-hye, dropped out of the Japanese language department at Busan University of Foreign Studies and then transferred to a far-right university in Japan was reported through the media and communities during his tenure, but then it was covered up. This issue is one of the irregularities related to Moon Jae-in. However, the South Korean media originally colludes with broadcasting companies to raise and drop issues of the powerful, weigh public opinion, and when a certain secret agreement is over, they become silent, or they drive people in the direction they want and make them disabled, which is a customary system.

However, from Moon Jae-in's term to the present, the word 'corruption' has rarely been attached to Moon Jae-in's name. What virtue did he have that allowed him to build and live with the image of Moon Jae-in that the public knows? Even the Moon Da-hye issue was buried as it was, without enduring the effort to find information, even going against the practice of Korean media where important issues disappear without a trace within a few hours after surfacing.

If South Korea is not a company that will close down, I think this is the last chance to fix the wrong reporting practices of the press and the public opinion that packages the true colors of politicians, so I want to deal with it.

On March 30, 2019, the Japanese Sankei Shimbun first reported that former President Moon Jae-in's daughter, Moon Da-hye, had transferred to Kokushikan University in Tokyo, Japan. The qualifications for transfer are those who have been enrolled in a university for more than two years, those who have been enrolled in universities in Japan or abroad for more than two years, those who can advance to the third grade at the time of transfer, or those who have academic qualifications equivalent to those of Japanese high school graduates and are at least 20 years old at the time of admission. Moon Da-hye does not fall into either of these cases, and if this article is true, Moon Da-hye's academic background is an illegal privilege of dropping out of high school and studying abroad, and Moon Jae-in's 'pro-Japanese' sentiment is a 'thorn' that goes against public sentiment. It is the reverse of the history of the Republic of Korea's media and politicians manipulating public sentiment.

‘This week, I visited Busan in the south for the first time in half a year. The cherry blossoms were already close to full bloom, creating a spring atmosphere. My purpose was to eat Busan's specialties, 'Dwaeji-gukbap' (pork rice soup) and 'Jaecheop-guk Jeongshik' (Corb shell soup set menu) at my favorite restaurant, and to visit the 'National Memorial Museum of Forced Mobilization under Japanese Occupation', which I hadn't seen yet.’

　However, looking at the exhibition photos in the history museum, all the 'Korean conscripted laborers' at the time looked excellent and healthy. There, artificial sets and drama-style videos are forcibly added to create a 'harsh and miserable slave situation' as 'history'. It was a shallow exhibition content without depth, which did not suit the sophisticated building, a modern 7-story building on the hill.

　Busan is President Moon Jae-in's hometown, so the topic turns to that. What I heard for the first time there and found interesting was that President Moon's wife diligently attended the Urasenke tea ceremony class in Busan.

　Adding to the fact that his daughter studied at a Japanese university (Kokushikan University), President Moon's family may be surprisingly pro-Japanese(?).

　Furthermore, a photo of Lim Jong-seok, a close aide who recently resigned as Chief of Staff to the President, traveling in Japan with a smiling face was also released in the media. While his family and close aides, like ordinary citizens, are enjoying Japan, President Moon himself is focusing on denouncing pro-Japanese sentiments to attack conservatives, or on recalling anti-Japanese and patriotic history. I often hear voices criticizing this as 'government-led nationalism.' (Katsuhiko Kuroda)’

This report immediately caused quite a stir in Korean society. Subsequently, follow-up reports continued in the domestic media, and on April 15, 2019, 'New Daily' introduced this content through an article titled "'Anti-Japan' President Moon's daughter studying at a Japanese 'right-wing' university." For some reason, New Daily has since become a far-right messenger and has been faithful to its role as one of the most extreme right-wing propaganda messengers even under the Yoon Seok-yeol administration. It's like how Joo Jin-woo once acted as a driving force behind the Candlelight Revolution and received enthusiastic support in Gwanghwamun Square, but after articles circulated that he had bought an apartment in Gangnam with cash, he, along with Kim Eo-jun, degenerated into a mouthpiece for pro-government media.

The Sankei Shimbun is a far-right newspaper that plays the role of anti-Korean, conservative, right-wing, and anti-communist among Japanese daily newspapers, and its predecessor is the 'Jiji Shinpo (時事新報)' founded on March 1, 1882. Yukichi Fukuzawa (福澤諭吉), the completer of Japanese imperialism, founded it and published the famous 'De-Asianization Theory (脫亞論)' in the March 16, 1885 issue. Kuroda Katsuhiro (黒田勝弘), a reporter for a newspaper with such an absurd history, is a famous expert on Korea and is currently 83 years old. Writing such an article during Moon Jae-in's administration, the article reveals how much Koreans were seen as fools. The storyline is that the First Lady learned tea ceremony in Busan from the Japanese Urasenke school, and her daughter attended a Japanese university, so Moon Jae-in is surprisingly pro-Japanese. There is no one who doesn't know that Busan originally has a strong Japanese color, but if the daughter of a major Korean politician was admitted to a right-wing university as a 'special case,' it is not common. There must be someone in the middle between the applicant and the school for that to be possible. The reason Kuroda mentioned Im Jong-seok is also significant. Im Jong-seok is a figure who was appointed as Special Advisor for Diplomacy and Security after serving as Moon Jae-in's first Chief of Staff. Kuroda, who visited Busan where cherry blossoms were in full bloom, must have rejoiced at the shallow historical awareness of naive Korean politicians.

The Blue House officially remained silent, issuing no statement. As a result, Moon Da-hye's academic background remains unconfirmed to this day, making her almost the only case among the children of former presidents whose academic background has not been disclosed. In the case of other presidents' children, their academic backgrounds are disclosed in relatively detailed terms. For example, it is known that Chun Jae-guk, the son of former President Chun Doo-hwan, attended Yonsei University and the University of Pennsylvania, Roh So-young, the daughter of former President Roh Tae-woo, attended Seoul National University and the University of Chicago, Kim Hyun-cheol, the son of former President Kim Young-sam, attended Korea University and the University of Southern California, and Roh Gun-ho, the son of former President Roh Moo-hyun, attended Yonsei University and Stanford University, respectively.

I think Noh So-young, the director of Art Center Nabi, is probably the only truly capable person among them. In Korean society, where highly educated people have few jobs to prove their education while living, their long academic backgrounds are neither tearful investments for success, nor are they a bad precedent that only encourages private desires and the outflow of foreign currency from ordinary people. No one scolds them that the waste of the rich soon causes damage that is contrary to the national interest, but the high academic background of high-ranking officials' children is not for the sake of the nation and the people, but is merely a privilege practice that may have deprived someone of their opportunity. However, Moon Da-hye's transfer to a far-right university in Japan is not just about continuing her education, as it is an illegal act that goes beyond the line of a high school dropout, and the far-right is a problem that goes against the past of colonial slaughter.

In particular, Kokushikan University, which has become the center of controversy, is not just a general university. This school was founded by members of Japan's far-right secret society Genyosha, which led the Eulmi Incident (1895), that is, the assassination of Empress Myeongseong, and is a representative far-right group that supported the continental invasion of the Japanese Empire. In fact, Kokushikan University's school song contains passages praising the Emperor and the Hwanguk (Imperial Country) and uses a logo based on the Rising Sun Flag. Jeong Kwon-hyun, a commentary member of the Chosun Ilbo, also pointed out, "This university was founded by people affiliated with a right-wing group that prepared for the Japanese imperialist invasion, and its historical character is clear." Currently, Kokushikan University is operated as a general university, but its conservative and right-wing tendencies are widely recognized even within Japan.

This fact creates a point of direct conflict with the anti-Japanese stance of the Moon Jae-in government. Throughout his time in office, former President Moon Jae-in maintained a strong confrontational stance against Japan regarding issues such as the forced labor ruling, the comfort women issue, and the export control situation. In such a situation, the fact that the president's immediate family member continued their studies at a university with distinctly far-right tendencies within Japan could have become an attack point shaking the sincerity of the regime's policy toward Japan. In fact, at the time, Min Kyung-wook, a spokesperson for the Liberty Korea Party, strongly criticized the contradiction, saying, "The Blue House, which would jump at the mere mention of 'Moon Jae-in,' is silent on the rumor that the president's daughter is studying at a far-right university in Japan." Although there are still Yoon Seok-yeol and Kim Keon-hee supporters who defend Moon Jae-in, if we knew who arranged Moon Jae-in's daughter's transfer to a far-right university in Japan, which crosses from the private to the public sphere, the facts would become clear. Min Kyung-wook had his party leadership position stripped by Kim Jong-in, chairman of the emergency response committee of the People Power Party in 2020, for raising conspiracy theories that the early voting for the 21st National Assembly election was rigged. Readers probably cannot imagine how much the foreign media in Korea are laughing inwardly at the messy Korean political scene, where they only need to gain power even while wallowing in a pit of filth.

The interesting point is the attitude of domestic media coverage. After the Japanese Sankei Shimbun reported it first, domestic media continued with relatively cautious or limited follow-up reports. Editorial writer Jung Kwon-hyun (former senior reporter at the Chosun Ilbo) analyzed, "The fact that the Blue House has not refuted it even after ten days makes it difficult to dismiss it as fake news," and Sankei's Katsuhiro Kuroda added criticism that "The Moon administration's 'liquidation of pro-Japanese remnants' is in fact nothing more than government-led nationalism." In the process of the Japanese media's report spreading into controversy in the domestic political arena, the Blue House's silence rather had the effect of strengthening the suspicion, and Moon Jae-in, who could not do anything about taming the press, probably hoped for their leniency.

Another layer of controversy is 'transparency'. While the academic background of the President's children may be a matter of personal privacy, in a democratic society, the family of the highest authority is considered a public figure to some extent. In particular, in light of the precedent that the academic backgrounds of past presidents' children have all been disclosed, it is unusual that only Moon Da-hye's academic background is being managed so thoroughly as non-disclosure. This is in stark contrast to the fact that Moon Jun-yong, Moon Da-hye's older brother, graduated from Konkuk University and Parsons School of Design in the United States.

In the end, this issue is not simply a matter of an individual's academic path, but a complex issue with layers of political and historical meaning. On the one hand, there is the logic of privacy protection that individual academic choices should be respected, but on the other hand, it is difficult to ignore the fact that the president's family's choices are subject to public scrutiny when they conflict with the political line of the national leader. In particular, the irony created by the historical character of Kokushikan University and the anti-Japanese policy stance of the Moon Jae-in administration starkly reveals the political tension and distrust structure of Korean society.

More important than anything else are transparency and trust. In a democratic society, it is difficult to separate a leader's words and actions into private and public spheres. The fact that Moon Da-hye's academic background has not been disclosed until now raises a fundamental question about how information management surrounding the family issues of those in power should be handled, going beyond personal matters. Therefore, this incident is not just a personal 'child's study abroad controversy,' but can be interpreted as a symbolic case showing how public accountability and private freedom should be balanced in Korean politics.

By tracing back Moon Da-hye's process and timing of transferring to a far-right university in Japan, it will be possible to know when and with what visa she went to Japan and when she returned from Japan. Hitotsubashi University, where Yoon Seok-yeol's father, Yoon Ki-jung, completed his master's course, is also a place where the university's identity makes one frown for ordinary people to attend. There is no nation as accustomed to other people's kindness and free treatment as Koreans, and as touched and grateful for being treated specially. Is the Moon Jae-in family also included among the foolish and stubborn Koreans? Moon Da-hye's transfer to a Japanese university is presumed to be around the time when Moon Jae-in was Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs, but who recommended this university and how a high school dropout was able to transfer to the university, I hope that she will clarify the facts regarding Mr. Kuroda's article.