'PD Notebook' Directly Confronts Ilbe: "When and Why Did It Start?"

*This content was translated by AI.

'PD Notebook' has faced users of the far-right community 'Daily Best Archive' (hereinafter Ilbe).

MBC's 'PD Notebook' will release an interview with Ilbe users on the 16th.

In May 2026, the so-called 'Starbucks Tank Day' incident sparked public outrage. The event name, held on the anniversary of the 18th, combined the word 'tank,' which evoked memories of the military's suppression of civilians, leading to allegations of historical distortion and mockery of the democratization movement. This was compounded by former Samsung Group Chairman Jay Y. Lee's past social media activities, intensifying public criticism and ultimately resulting in an unprecedented situation where the 10th-ranked figure in the business world stood before cameras to issue a national apology.

While the 'Ilbe culture' seemed to have been dismissed as a deviation by a specific internet community and forgotten, it has recently resurfaced as a serious issue. Mocking and hateful language, once confined to the shadows, now penetrates deeply into offline spaces and even school classrooms among teenagers, spreading across various SNS platforms and being consumed like a 'game.' <PD Notebook> conducted an in-depth investigation into the 'Ilbe culture,' which has become normalized through language violence that crosses the line under the guise of trends.

Before the fallout from the 'Starbucks Tank Day' incident had even subsided, shocking behavior was observed at Bongha Village in Gimhae, Gyeongnam Province. On May 23, the anniversary of the death of former President Roh Moo-hyun, some young people mimicked owl sounds from the Owl Rock where he passed away and took selfie photos making the Ilbe hand gesture in front of his statue, turning a space of remembrance into a site of deviation. Investigations revealed that on the same day last year, young students gathered in groups to perform mocking songs and dances.

The reality of perverse posts online was also severe. Posts mocking tragedies, such as 'Gravity Day' (a derogatory term for the anniversary of Roh Moo-hyun's death) and 'Hotteok Day' (referencing the Itaewon disaster victims), were openly circulating online, particularly spreading rapidly among teenagers as part of 'peer culture.'

While Ilbe was once confined to online spaces, its traces can now be easily found in the physical world beyond monitors. 'PD Notebook' examined how widely the Ilbe culture, which consumes mockery and hatred as a game, has spread.

In the past, Ilbe compared the victims of the Sewol Ferry disaster to 'fish cakes' and staged a 'binge-eating protest' in front of grieving families who were on a hunger strike, drawing public outrage. Twelve years later, 'PD Notebook' tracked down Cha Hyun-dong (pseudonym), the only member of Ilbe at the time to receive a four-month prison sentence, who posted a photo titled 'I Ate My Friend' while wearing a Danwon High School uniform and eating fish cakes.

Unlike the intense public criticism at the time, most participants in the 'Sewol Ferry Binge-Eating Protest,' the first offline group action by Ilbe, were not prosecuted due to insufficient evidence.

To analyze 'Ilbe' users who hide behind complete anonymity and refuse to reveal their identities, 'PD Notebook' decided to meet them directly. From teenagers who claim that 'Ilbe terminology' used in schools has 'ranks,' to a 30-year-old former user who actively used Ilbe sites in the past but has since left, 20 individuals with diverse ages and backgrounds gathered for in-depth group interviews.

Questions ranged from basic inquiries like "When and why did it start?" to sensitive and direct ones such as "Have you revealed to those around you that you are part of Ilbe?", "Do you truly believe that posts insulting the deceased or controversial behaviors are acceptable?", and "Could you tolerate it even if the target of the mockery were your own family?" Initially, participants claimed it was merely "simple fun and humor," but during individual interviews, problematic perceptions emerged, including xenophobic biases against migrant workers, exclusionary views toward specific regions, and baseless conspiracy theories about the the 18th democratization movement. Experts point out that when mockery is mindlessly repeated as a light-hearted pastime, prejudice and hatred solidify into beliefs, ultimately shaping an individual's social perception.

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*This content was translated by AI.