President Lee Jae Myung of South Korea and the “siren classic mug collection” promotional image. (pool photo, via social media)
On Saturday, when a memorial service was held for former president and progressive icon Roh Moo-hyun, dozens of individuals assumed to be users of far-right website Ilbe (Daily Best Storehouse) reportedly roved through Roh’s hometown of Bongha Village in an act of “recreational hatred” involving signs and symbols known only to them.On May 18, Starbucks Korea organized a “Tank Day” marketing campaign widely regarded as mocking Gwangju citizens killed by government troops in 1980 and Park Jong-cheol, a democracy activist tortured to death by the police.That also brought attention to a lesser-known incident in which Starbucks launched a collection of “siren classic mugs” on April 16, 2024, the 10th anniversary of the horrific sinking of the Sewol ferry with hundreds of high school students aboard. A prominent part of the Starbucks logo, the siren is the creature from Greek mythology that lured sailors to their doom with their beautiful voices.A culture of hateful mockery in far-right circles has become a form of entertainment that permeates our everyday lives to a greater extent than many would like to believe.Korean President Lee Jae Myung called out the trend in public comments on Sunday. “It would appear there needs to be a public discussion about allowing necessary measures, under strict conditions, such as opening expressions of mockery and hatred to punishment and punitive damages, shutting down websites such as Ilbe that tolerate or incite mockery and hatred, and subjecting [the users and admins] to punitive damages and fines. The practicality of such measures should also be reviewed,” he wrote on the social media platform X. Lee was apparently speaking of the need for an administrative and legislative response to hatred and mockery by radical groups that are undermining national unity.The reason the Starbucks marketing campaign has aroused such a flood of national outrage and even a boycott is that mockery of the victims of state violence and manmade disasters is the kind of depravity that erodes the foundation of our community and rips apart the fabric of society.Furthermore, making light of the violence perpetrated by the authorities and the systemic failures that lead to manmade disasters can undermine state responsibility for citizens’ lives and safety.That same can be said for Ilbe members who deliberately stuffed their faces in front of Sewol family members on a hunger strike and who reviled victims of the massacre in Gwangju. However, these behaviors are hard to regulate or criminalize because they aren’t accompanied by overt violence and are performed recreationally in the form of obscure slang and memes.The first step is to make detailed guidelines to encourage self-policing by online platforms. But when platforms seek to profit by encouraging mockery and hatred, tougher measures will have to be developed.Most vulnerable to far-right groups’ hatred and mockery are members of marginalized groups such as people with disabilities, migrant workers and LGBTQ+ people. Discrimination and hatred against the likes of these too often culminates in explicit violence against them.This should be taken as an opportunity for launching a serious discussion about enacting the long-discussed, and long-delayed, anti-discrimination bill.Protecting the rights of the most vulnerable members of society will leave the far right with less ground to stand on.Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
