Roh Moo-hyun Foundation Director Cho Su-jin Publicly Apologizes to RESCENE's Woni: "My Understanding Was Lacking" [Full Text]

*This content was translated by AI.

Cho Su-jin, a lawyer and director of the People's World Roh Moo-hyun Foundation, has corrected her stance and issued a public apology to Woni of the group RESCENE after labeling her remarks as "Ilbe-style expressions."

On the 9th, Lawyer Cho posted a lengthy message on her social media, stating, "I am making an announcement regarding my remarks about RESCENE's Woni."

Previously, on the 7th, during an appearance on the YouTube channel 'Jang Yoon-seon's Investigation Convenience Store,' Lawyer Cho pointed out that Woni's use of "musyeopno" was an Ilbe-style expression. She added, "I am also from Gyeongsang-do, so I believe it is indeed an Ilbe-style expression." She further noted, "Ilbe-style expressions are used very widely and extensively, and Ilbe culture has become pervasive from the general adolescent period through to when one becomes a young adult."

Regarding this, Lawyer Cho explained, "The main point of my remarks at the time was that we should not assign individual responsibility for the structural issue of young people's use of the '-no' ending in Ilbe-style expressions." She continued, "Although I was born in Busan and lived in Daegu for 25 years, I had never encountered the use of '~no' in situations like this, so I judged it to be an Ilbe-style expression."

She further stated, "After hearing the explanation from Kim Deok-ho (Prof.) of the Department of Korean Language and Literature at Kyungpook National University, I realized my thinking was mistaken. 'Wairi musyeopno' — omitting 'wairi' is originally grammatically unnatural, but young people use it by omitting it. It was an misunderstanding due to differences in dialect usage patterns between generations, and after hearing that explanation, I came to understand."

She then said, "It seems my understanding of the language of the younger generation, which uses many omissions in online LINE conversations, was lacking. I am worried that Woni may have been hurt by my remarks, and I would like to convey an apology publicly to Woni."

Meanwhile, Woni, originally from Geoje in Gyeongsangnam-do, sparked controversy after saying "musyeopno" in a video posted on her YouTube channel 'Hello, I'm Woni. Please take care of me' on the 28th of last month.

Regarding Woni's remarks, some netizens pointed out that the expression was an Ilbe-style one from the far-right community Ilbe (Daily Best Storage), while others countered that it was a Gyeongsang-do dialect, leading to heated debate.

◆ Full text of Lawyer Cho Su-jin's statement.

I am making an announcement regarding my remarks about RESCENE singer Woni.

There have been many inquiries, and I have newly learned something, so I wish to correct my position.

First, the full text of my remarks on the 7th, 2026, at Jang Yoon-seon's Investigation Convenience Store is as follows:

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"So, I believe it is indeed an Ilbe-style expression because many such expressions by that singer are currently being posted. Also, since I am from Gyeongsang-do, I thought it was an Ilbe-style expression."

However, the problem is that this is a structural issue.

The Ilbe-style expressions themselves are used very widely and extensively. From the time of general adolescents until they become young adults today, Ilbe culture has become pervasive. It seems that while it is a structural issue, people are placing coordinates on individuals as if they must take responsibility for this problem, more excessively than their own self-awareness would suggest. This, I believe, is the point of contention now.

Nevertheless, even though it is not solely an individual's responsibility, we have reached a point where we can no longer refrain from pointing it out. Just like the Ilbe youths who gathered at President Roh Moo-hyun's memorial service, or as seen in the Bae-gye-sa incident, it has gone beyond mere exclusion and has become so widespread that it is now being openly used for promotion at Starbucks. Because we have not pointed this out until now, we have reached this situation. Now, I feel it is a full-scale war: our need to point it out, to raise awareness, to recognize that this is wrong, and to understand how hateful and terrible the roots of these expressions truly are.

Recently, there has been renewed controversy over webtoons that became the basis for certain dramas, where codes such as "Ongseong Rock" or "523" were used. This is a characteristic of Ilbe culture itself: unknowingly embedding codes that later become inside jokes among themselves. However, these codes originated from mocking and ridiculing the death of Roh Moo-hyun. The argument is that because these hidden codes were used covertly, pointing them out too much amounts to over-coordinating and politically exploiting the issue.

(Omitted below)"

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As stated above, the main point of my remarks was that we should not assign individual responsibility for the structural issue of young people's use of the Ilbe-style "-no" ending, nor should we exploit it politically.

It is because, not only in Ilbe but also across many online LINE communities, the practice of attaching the "-no" ending inappropriately to insult and mock President Roh Moo-hyun has been tolerated for over a decade, eventually being absorbed into the grammar and memes of the younger generation.

I was born in Busan and lived in Daegu from the age of five, attending elementary, middle, high school, and university there, spending 25 years in Gyeongsang-do. After that, I moved to Seoul and have been living here. However, I have never encountered the use of "~no" in situations like this.

Therefore, after checking the original short video of the remarks, I judged it to be an Ilbe-style expression. However, after hearing the explanation from Kim Deok-ho (Prof.) of the Department of Korean Language and Literature at Kyungpook National University on yesterday's TBC broadcast, I realized my thinking was mistaken. They explained that omitting "wairi" in "Wairi musyeopno" is originally grammatically unnatural, but young people use it by omitting it. It was a misunderstanding due to differences in dialect usage patterns between generations, and after hearing that explanation, I came to understand.

It seems my understanding of the language of the younger generation, which uses many omissions in online LINE conversations, was lacking. I am worried that Woni, an artist of the RESCENE group, may have been hurt by my remarks, and I would like to convey an apology.

I will continue to work so as to share better news.

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*This content was translated by AI.