Former PPP leader's bilingual online post sparks fierce debate over English grammar

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Former PPP leader's bilingual online post sparks fierce debate over English grammar

Published: 14 Mar. 2025, 18:04 Updated: 16 Mar. 2025, 15:40

MICHAEL LEE
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

A screenshot of former People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon's post on Facebook on March 13. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Korea’s two main parties don’t see eye to eye on much these days, so perhaps it’s no surprise that they apparently disagree on points of English grammar.

Former People Power Party (PPP) leader Han Dong-hoon sparked a heated debate on the topic on Thursday after he posted a bilingual photo caption targeting Democratic Party (DP) leader Rep. Lee Jae-myung on social media.

Han uploaded a photo of Lee, who is the current front-runner to succeed impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, and described him as a “truly dangerous person” in Korean.

However, the latest spat centered on Han’s description of Lee in English, written as “Most Dangerous Man in Korea” in parentheses directly below his Korean-language caption.

Rep. Kim Dong-ah, who serves on the DP’s public communications committee, characterized Han’s post as “fake news,” both in grammar and substance.

“When the superlative ‘most’ is used to modify an adjective, it must be preceded by the article ‘the,’” Kim said. “If not, [the word ‘most’] refers to a majority, which in this case makes the sentence grammatically incorrect.”

While Kim is technically right that “most” should be accompanied by an article if used as a superlative, it is unlikely most speakers of English would have difficulty inferring Han’s intended meaning from the context of his caption. Articles are also frequently omitted in English when a description does not form a full sentence.

Kim further argued that Han had singled out the wrong person as the country’s most dangerous individual.

“The most dangerous man in Korea is Yoon Suk Yeol, who has been released from detention and is acting like a victorious general despite having committed the crime of insurrection,” the DP lawmaker said.

The DP and its liberal allies have accused Yoon of trying to impose military rule on the country by declaring martial law on Dec. 3, 2024.

Former People Power Party (PPP) leader Han Dong-hoon moves away from the podium after announcing his resignation from the party leadership during a press conference held at the National Assembly on Dec. 16, 2024. [YONHAP]

Han resigned from the party leadership after expressing support for Yoon’s impeachment, which most PPP lawmakers opposed.

Kim suggested that Han’s post on Thursday was driven by “his desire to attract attention after being driven out of the PPP and being left with no political influence.”

The description of Lee as a “dangerous man” was first used in a question directed at the DP leader by a Washington Times journalist at a press conference in April 2023.

The reporter asked him, “Five persons close to you have died, as of course you know. This raises the question: Are you, Lee Jae-myung, a dangerous man?”

The question referred to Lee’s former acquaintances and subordinates who died by suicide after coming under investigation for property development scandals that took place while Lee was serving as mayor of Seongnam and governor of Gyeonggi.

In response, Lee said he regards their deaths “with regret” but also argued they were targeted by prosecutors because of their ties to him.

Lee has denied wrongdoing and accused the prosecution of carrying out politically motivated investigations intended to ruin his political prospects.

BY MICHAEL LEE [[email protected]]