The state-affiliated agency for the Korean cartoon industry has said that the 28th edition of the Bucheon International Comics Festival will feature a satirical cartoon of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, which sparked controversy over freedom of speech when it was previously shown in 2022.
"Yoon Suk Yeol Train" depicts Yoon as a train, with his wife Kim Keon Hee and knife-wielding prosecutors onboard. People are shown fleeing in terror, while a destroyed building, labeled as the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, lies in the train's path, an obvious nod to the controversial presidential pledge made by Yoon to abolish the ministry.
According to the Korea Manhwa Contents Agency, the piece will be on display as one of the prize-winning works at the annual festival, along with other prominent works by students between 2021 and 2025. This year's event will be held from Sept. 26 to 28 at the Korea Manhwa Museum in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province.
Created by a high school student at the time, the piece received the top award in the high school category at the 2022 student cartoon competition. It was previously displayed at the Korea Manhwa Museum from Sept. 30 to Oct. 4 that year.
The cartoon sparked political backlash at the time, with advocates for the conservative president saying it was biased against Yoon, while others insisted that freedom of expression must be respected. The controversy grew when the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism publicly expressed regret and issued a "stern warning" to the organizers, saying it violated the terms of the ministry's sponsorship that works containing sexually explicit, violent or political content be disqualified.
The organizers of Bucheon comics festival said the decision to display the controversial work was not politically motivated, but part of a routine exhibition of award-winning entries from previous festivals.
The student cartoon competition and commendation continued throughout 2023 and 2024, but the display of winning works did not take place in that period, while disgraced former leader Yoon was in office. After the cartoon controversy in 2022, the Culture Ministry pulled its sponsorship from the 2023 event of the cartoon festival and cut subsidies for the KMCA.
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com
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