Kim Ki-hyun and Kim Yeon-kyung gave ‘thumbs up’
“Sister bread, were you brave?” a rush of blame
“Say thank you to Wen” The debate was called
The appearance of volleyball player Kim Yeon-kyung taking a photo with Representative Kim Ki-hyun, the people’s power runner, has been released, and opposition supporters are running out of complaints. Among them, the controversy caused by forcing Kim Yeon-kyung, who achieved the ‘mythical final four’ at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, to say “Thank you to President Moon Jae-in” is being re-examined .
Rep. Kim shared a photo taken with Kim Yeon-kyung on the social network service (SNS) Facebook on the 27th. In the published photo, Kim Yeon-kyung gives a thumbs up. According to Congressman Kim’s side, the meeting took place in a meeting with an acquaintance he knew well.
Rep. Kim said, “I had a comfortable evening with familiar faces after a long time.”
Since then, criticism from pro-ya trend netizens has flooded Kim Yeon-kyung’s YouTube channel and various SNS such as Instagram. “Sister Bara, was it right wing? It’s disappointing”, “Sister two-shot got goosebumps”, “You are doing well, but why do you need the power of the people”, “I was always like, but it’s a pity”, and “Go to the Taegeukgi rally”.
The reaction of netizens like this has been extended to the debate about ‘political freedom’. Attention was drawn to the fact that it was inappropriate to criticize the political freedom guaranteed by the Constitution because it was different from their own tendencies.
Among them, it was confirmed that some netizens are bringing back the controversy caused by forcing Kim Yeon-kyung, who returned home after achieving the semifinal myth in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, to thank President Moon, and was in his post as moderator of the press conference at the time. They also added the argument that “Kim Yeon-kyung has no choice but to be a right winger.”
At the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Women’s Volleyball Team Press Conference held at Incheon International Airport on August 9, 2021, Vice Chairman of the Hong Section Committee of the Korea Volleyball Association, which hosted the event, said, “Player Kim Yeon-kyung, please wait.” call up Afterwards, at a press conference held by Kim Yeon-kyung, the moderator asked, “Do you know that the prize money is the best ever prepared?” He added, “A lot of incentive money is pouring in,” adding, “I’d like to thank you.”
In response, Kim Yeon-kyung replied, “It seems that we are in a very good mood to give you an award. I want to say thank you to everyone.” Then, Kim Yeon-kyung responded to the reporters’ questions for about 10 minutes. After the question and answer session, the moderator suddenly started talking about ‘President Moon Jae-in’ to Kim Yeon-kyung.
He said, “President Moon Jae-in called each of our players by name and encouraged them about the performance of our female volleyball players,” and “Did you answer that?” In response, Kim Yeon-kyung said, “What should I dare to say to the President…”
However, the moderator once again urged President Moon to express his gratitude, saying, “Today’s opportunity (to express gratitude), the seat has come.” Kim Yeon-kyung said, “Didn’t you do it now?”, but the moderator said, “One more time.” In the end, Kim Yeon-kyung said, “Thank you,” and the moderator was satisfied saying, “That’s right.”
After the press conference, the Korea Volleyball Association’s website was full of criticism. Vice Chairman Yoo, who was in charge of moderation, resigned as Vice Chairman of Public Relations, and Oh Han-nam, president of the Korea Volleyball Association, also posted an apology. Chairman Oh promised, “I apologize once again for causing concern to the public, and I will do my best to prevent this from happening again in the future.”
Hong Min-seong, Hankyung.com reporter mshong@hankyung.com
