The South Korean government on Saturday expressed regret over a statement issued by the Israeli foreign ministry criticizing South Korean president Lee Jae Myung’s recent post on X, saying the remarks had been misunderstood.
In a post on its official X account, South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Israel had “misinterpreted the intent” of Lee’s message, which it described as expressing a belief in universal human rights rather than a position on a specific issue.
“The government finds it regrettable that the Israeli Foreign Ministry misunderstood the intent of the president’s post and responded by refuting it,” the ministry wrote.
The ministry added that Seoul consistently opposes all forms of violence and inhumane acts, including terrorism, and maintains humanitarian law and human rights must be upheld without exception.
It also expressed condolences to the victims of the Holocaust, noting that Korea shares in the “unspeakable suffering” experienced by Israel.
The controversy stems from a post Lee shared Thursday on X, in which he reposted a video from an account run by a user who claims to be a Muslim Palestinian. The video shows a body being pushed off a roof by armed Israeli soldiers.
In his post, Lee wrote that if the video is real, the matter should be looked into, and that wartime homicide was no different from atrocities such as the Holocaust and the sexual enslavement of women by the Japanese Empire before and during World War II.
The video in question was later reported to show an incident from September 2024, in which Israeli forces dropped a Palestinian body, leading to debate over whether the footage was related to the ongoing conflict. Lee later posted a follow-up message emphasizing the need to uphold human rights and international humanitarian law.
In response, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said earlier Saturday that Lee’s remarks trivialized the Holocaust on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, calling the comments “unacceptable” and strongly condemning them.
lee.jungjoo@heraldcorp.com
