The 5·18 Memorial Foundation has decided to reject donations from the YouTuber Jabsikgonyang, who stirred controversy by posting a derogatory message about a region in relation to the 21st presidential election.
According to Yonhap News on the 11th, the 5·18 Memorial Foundation sent an email to YouTuber Jabsikgonyang (real name Wang Hyun-soo) on the 9th, expressing their refusal to return the donated 5 million won.
The purpose of donating to or receiving donations from the foundation is to honor the spirit of the 5·18 Democratic Movement, but they determined that Jabsikgonyang's act of donation did not reflect this intent. It has been confirmed that Jabsikgonyang received the email, but there has been no response yet. They also stated that the return procedure has not been completed.
A representative of the foundation said, "We judged that rather than having a pure intention to honor the 5·18 values, it was a means to evade responsibility for the social controversy caused by oneself," and noted that they requested the account number to return the donation.
Earlier, Jabsikgonyang shared a post on social media on the 5th, commenting on the voting results of the 21st presidential election in a region of South Jeolla Province. In a region that was not named, Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party of Korea had a vote rate of 89.04%.
One internet user who shared this post made derogatory remarks about the region, and Jabsikgonyang left an emoticon that seemed to mock it. Since this was not the first time Jabsikgonyang faced similar regional derogation controversies, he received even greater criticism.
As the controversy escalated, Jabsikgonyang said, “Recently, I posted content that contained derogatory expressions about a region and politically biased statements, which caused discomfort to many people. I sincerely apologize,” and added, “Having been influenced by my surroundings since childhood, I believe I unconsciously developed a biased mindset from only listening to one side.”
He continued, “As a result, I carelessly used expressions that I did not deeply think were derogatory. In the future, I will approach each word and post with more caution and responsibility. I will always be careful and reflect to ensure I do not have misguided thoughts. To those who were disappointed, I sincerely apologize once again,” but public sentiment did not calm.
On the same day, he revealed a receipt stating that he donated 5 million won to the 5·18 Memorial Foundation, saying, “I will keep in mind that making a donation does not erase my wrongdoing,” and added, “In the future, I will live with caution in every word I say.”
However, internet users reacted by saying, “He is trying to evade responsibility through donations,” and “It is insulting,” and filed complaints asking the 5·18 Memorial Foundation to refuse his donation, which the foundation also judged similarly, sending a rejection email.
[Photo] SNS
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