Politicians` use of spiteful words

People who meet Lee Jong-kul, the floor leader of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD), on a personal occasion for the first time usually get surprised because of his soft and gentlemanly feel. He is also said to have good manners, except for occasional tardiness in meetings. At a rally on November 6 in protest against the government`s plan to introduce state-published history textbooks, he even played the piano. He was a piano major of an art junior high school. Coming from a prestigious family, he has great renaissance-era sensibility for a contemporary politician.

However, he suddenly changes in front of a microphone or on social networking sites. By far, his worst remark was "Park Geun-hye geu nyeon (that b*tch)." President Park even complained about the expression‍ in front of his face, asking why he had called her names. Although he offered an immediate apology to the president, he used rough words again on Tuesday while criticizing the president, asking if she thought the Korean people were "byeongsin (idiot)" or "fools." This time, however, the "byeongsin" remark does not sound just rough.

At the third anti-government rally on December 19, protesters used the expression‍ "Byeongsinnyeon Park Geun-hye." On social networking sites, many people are using expressions using combinations of Park and the New Year, which is called "Byeongsinnyeon" in accordance with the Chinese sexagenary cycle. "Byeongsinnyeon" can also mean "idiotic b*tch." In fact, "byeongsin," which originated from a "crippled body," is something more than "idiot." As the term is extremely disparaging and offensive for disabled people, it is almost a taboo word for politicians. How should we take Lee`s use of the taboo word? Already, there are concerns that the year of "Byeongsin" in the sexagenary cycle will be used in numerous vulgar parodies.

Originally, the year of Byeongsin has a good meaning that it is a year when a red money, a symbol of good fortune, reaches out. Since the old times, the monkey was a symbol of wisdom and sociability. The year (936) when Goryeo reunified the Korean Peninsula and the year (1236) when the making of the Tripitaka Koreana started were both the years of Byeongsin. We cannot ring in the hopeful New Year maliciously talking about "Byeongsinnyeon" at a time when the country is at a crossroads between rise and fall.

phark@donga.com