CHOI SIWON
The singer and actor CHOI SIWON has opened an account on the new social media platform Threads, and his first message attracted attention due to a multitude of comments revealing political orientations.
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On July 13, CHOI SIWON published his first message on Threads, writing “Is this Threads?” accompanied by a photo of himself on a horse.
Before opening his Threads account, he had written that day on his X (formerly Twitter) account: “Sometimes in the past, and more often recently, I wonder, as a citizen, what this country in which the next generation will live should look like. Is this also your case?”
He added: “Without the empathy and support you send me, my thoughts might have remained a monologue” and “In the future as well, I wish to reflect with you on the future of our country and share the thoughts that I have matured. I will listen more to other opinions to learn from them. Would it be possible for us to discuss this together?”
Thereafter, although his first message on his freshly opened Threads account contained no political message, comments with political connotations succeeded one another there, such as “A true patriot”, “Welcome to the young conservatives”, “Thank you for making your voice heard”, or even “A living conscience in a left-leaning entertainment world”. Some users also published images combining the South Korean flag and the American flag, or shared photos related to political rallies.
Previously, last July 7, CHOI SIWON had left a warning message against the authors of malicious comments via his SNS, stating: “Silence ends here. I will no longer tolerate malice.” Furthermore, last May, he initiated legal proceedings by filing a lawsuit for damages against 10 users who had repeatedly written insulting publications.
The origin of the controversy began last February, on the day of the first-instance verdict of former president Yoon Suk Yeol, when CHOI SIWON successively published on his SNS four-character expressions such as “불의필망(不義必亡)” (injustice will surely perish) and “토붕와해(土崩瓦解)” (collapse and disintegrate), which gave rise to continuous interpretations concerning their political meaning.
Subsequently, suspicions of affiliation with the YouTuber and former Korean history teacher Jeon Han Gil, as well as the recent publication of a night landscape photo that some claim corresponds to the site of a rally demanding new elections due to election fraud, intertwined to fuel the controversy over his political color, leading to a continuous wave of malicious comments and personal attacks.
Journalist: Shawn
Translator: Shawn
Source: SNS CHOI SIWON
