Cho Kuk defends 'Director Kim' creator, says 'ilbe' allegation is unfair

Cho Kuk, former leader of the Rebuilding Korea Party, has come to the defense of the creator of the popular drama series "Director Kim," saying an unfair allegation linking the artist to the far-right online community ilbe must be corrected.

In a Facebook post Monday, Cho reiterated his position that appending "no" to the end of a question is an ilbe-associated expression that should be stamped out — a view he had voiced Sunday when he criticized idol group Lisn member Woni for using the phrase "museopno" ("scary, no?"), calling it an ilbe-style expression.

He then cited a scene from "Lookism," another webtoon by Park Tae-jun, the creator behind the SBS drama series "Director Kim," as an example of what he called an unfair ilbe misreading that needed to be set straight.

Several YouTube channels, including "Yeouido Yeongmundongnaedong," had recently claimed that in "Lookism," the protagonist glances at a stopwatch showing 5 minutes and 23 seconds — a reference, they alleged, to May 23, the date former President Roh Moo-hyun died. The channels further alleged that a sign visible behind a speech bubble reads "Rock Owling," which they said evoked the Owl Rock cliff where Roh died. They suggested the artist had drawn such coded references for amusement and described the alleged pattern as evidence that ilbe-style thinking runs deep across generations.

Cho introduced a post by Park In-ha, president of the Seoul Webtoon Academy and a comics critic, who argued that the sign in question actually reads "hanwon rock bowling" — a bowling alley name — not "Rock Owling." On that basis, Cho said he did not believe Park Tae-jun had ilbe connections.

However, he added, "the reason for using '5.23' remains a question."

Meanwhile, Cho on Sunday called on Lee Byung-tae, vice chairman of the Regulatory Rationalization Committee, to resign voluntarily, saying officials who invoke ideological smear tactics should not be tolerated under the banner of unity. The remarks came in connection with the "Baejae High School incident," after Lee said the school's disciplinary handling resembled that of North Korea.

Lee had written on social media Wednesday that the Korea Baseball Softball Association's six-month competition ban imposed on Baejae High School over an inappropriate cheer chant had turned a student's misbehavior into a political issue through the "sanctification" of the May 18 pro-democracy uprising's history. He said the situation resembled North Korea, where Kim Il-sung's portrait is treated as more sacred than the country itself.

Cho said Lee felt free to make such remarks because he was confident he could provoke the public without consequence. He added that it was unacceptable for a senior official holding a rank equivalent to prime minister to make what he called an anti-constitutional statement without being held to account.