A screen capture of an Instagram post by Shinsegae Group Vice Chairman Chung Yong-jin on Nov. 15. One of the hashtags reads: “I don’t like the Communist Party.”
Shinsegae Group Vice Chairperson Chung Yong-jin’s repeated remarks about “eradicating communism” are turning into a risk for the corporation itself.In the wake of the politicized statements that Chung began making two months ago, Shinsegae share prices Monday were down by 6.8% from the day before, with a growing campaign to boycott Shinsegae affiliates.The controversy started in mid-November when Chung posted a photograph of himself holding a red card wallet with the hashtag “I hate the Communist Party.” At the time, he explained that the hashtag was included without any particular intentions after others commented that the wallet’s red color was reminiscent of the Communist Party.But some interpreted it as an expression of disgruntlement with the Chinese Communist Party, which had hurt the group’s investments amid its reaction to the deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system in South Korea, as well as a message of criticism toward the Moon Jae-in administration’s pro-Beijing attitude.Rather than back down, Chung attracted even more controversy by continuing to make remarks about the Communist Party.Posting a picture of himself wearing the uniform of his company’s baseball team, the SSG Landers, he added the hashtag, “I quite dislike soybeans. No backtracking.” The “soybeans” (“kong”) was a play on words, as it sounds similar to an abbreviated form of “communism” (“gong”) in Korean.He further fueled the fire with last posts bearing the tag, “In sum, I hate communism.”The situation reignited with an Instagram post early in the morning Sunday, where Chung wrote, “My ‘eradicating communism’ is purely directed at the ones up there [North Korea] who are threatening us.”“Instead of denouncing me, we should be uniting beyond left and right in calling together for an end to communism rather than fighting,” he continued.The controversy spilled over into the political world when People Power Party (PPP) presidential nominee Yoon Suk-yeol joined the fray, showing his support of Chung by posting an image of himself buying anchovies (“myeol-chi”) and soybeans (“kong”) at the superstore E-mart — both food items likely chosen because of their phonetic similarity to Korean word for “eradicate communism” (“myeolgong”).Chung’s post on Sunday attracted 70,000 likes, as well as hundreds of replies in support.“It’s great to see businesspeople who don’t care what the politicians think,” one person wrote.“I support eradicating communism,” others added.
