Following Lady Gaga’s allegedly evil concert last month that saw some South Korean groups praying for its cancellation, the public debate on her time in Korea continues. A televised debating show that had been covering the fact that many of Gaga’s concerts were ‘R’ rated invited a range of speakers to engage in a heated discussion, including the Reverend Jeong-Hoon Yoon who, already known for a high profile battle on Twitter with a liberal commentator Professor Jin (pictured right), came under fire from many Koreans for making some particularly strong remarks against homosexuality in Korea.
From HeraldBiz:
On the TV program ‘The debate to put on end to all’, Reverend Jeong-Hoon Yoon asks ‘Which is dirtier, mad-cow disease or homosexuality?’
Comments from Reverend Jeong-Hoon Yoon, Representative of Greencontents Movement, on homosexuality have sparked violent reaction from netizens.
Rev. Yoon appeared at the debate program on tvN channel (hosted by Ji-Yeon Baek) on the 2nd of May, to discuss the topic ‘Was it valid to declare that the Lady Gaga concert was harmful to adolescents?’ He commented that Lady Gaga’s lyrics that say ‘homosexuality was created by God’ show an overt support for homosexuality, which is against the Bible and derogatory of Christianity.
During the debate, he continued to hurl sharp insults towards homosexuals, saying that ‘homosexuality wasn’t created by God’ and asking ‘which is dirtier, mad-cow disease or homosexuality?’
He claimed that South Korea has been so far free from homosexuality, standing in stark antagonism with Professor Joong-Gwon Jin (Professor of Dong-yang Univ.), who was well known as a liberal commentator and another panel speaker that day.
Professor Jin retorted at the ‘homo-free’ argument, saying that the country used to be free from Christianity for 5,000 years. ‘The country was very clean then – does this offend you? This is what we call discrimination,’ he added. He also pointed out the conservative take on homosexuality by the Christian community in South Korea, commenting that only a part of the Korean Christian community sees homosexuality as anti-Bible, and that other countries even allow appointing homosexuals to clerical positions. ‘If the Bible says ‘stone homosexuals to death,’ will you really follow it? It is problematic to understand the Bible literally. If so, we would have to restrict viewing of the Old Testament from under-19s,’ he argued.
The problem evolved when some netizens started criticising Rev. Yoon on his Twitter account (@JunghoonYoon), regarding his comments ‘overboard’ after watching the debate.
A Twitter user (week****) mentioned him saying ‘it is inappropriate to view homosexuals as AIDS virus carriers; like someone said before, love is not for sex.’ To this, Rev. Yoon made an obscene reply, mentioning a specific body part. When another Twitter user criticised this saying ‘so this is the expression coming from a Korean priest,’ he replied ‘you make me puke,’ adding oil to the fire.
Twitter users rapidly started condemning his ‘rash’ behaviour in this war of words.
Many Twitter users were not shy of expressing their anger. ‘I was wondering who Reverend Jeong-Hoon Yoon was, and the debate showed me what kind of mind-set he had’ said dodo****, while bayst**** commented that ‘it seems to me that Jeong-Hoon Yoon has only had an immature training of the rational mind. On top of it all, his theological knowledge and faith as a priest is very seriously mediocre.’
Some Twitter users found his comments unpalatable; p_ele**** wrote ‘Dear Rev. Yoon, think about how many homosexuals would have been discouraged and suffered from the view of the world, while you were confident that our country was homo-free. Please be more benevolent and embrace their pain.’
Reverend Yoon and Professor Jin were accompanied by Jin-Mi Hwang (film critic) and Hee-Mun Cho (Professor of Inha Univ.) in the panel for the debate. They not only discussed homosexuality but also the Korean acceptability standard of rating cultural contents, attracting public attention. South Korea is the only nation that Lady Gaga has visited during her World Tour to have decided to give her concerts an R rating.
Comments from Nate:
최태묵
The Bible is a funny book. Homosexuality is a crime to die for, but incest is allowed. Weird book it is.
허은영
‘The Bible should be understood in accordance with the current trend……’ Would [they] understand even if we say so??……
김재홍
Must they [homosexuals] be condemned? I think Christians should embrace and walk with them too.
남효원
The country was free from homosexuals? How do you know that, did you do a survey or something?
Comments from Twitter:
이송희일(@leesongheeil)
Rev. Yoon says ‘Korea is homo-free.’ But you can find the history of homosexuality from the Silla dynasty to the Joseon dynasty, with a bit of literature research. On the other hand, Catholicism came to the Korean Peninsula in the 17th Century, and Christianity in 19th. How ignorant of them [to insult homosexuality], being juniors by far according to the records.
Links_Arc(@links_arc)
It’s simple why Catholics are against homosexuality. It’s because the Bible bans it. It’s a religious belief so doesn’t need any complex logic. The Pharisee Jeong-Hoon Yoon uses some random nonsense to support his opposition against homosexuality. That’s why he is being criticized.
Melong 언제나 로멘티스트(@melong_b)
Thanks to Mr Jeong-Hoon Yoon, the public view of homosexuality seems to have become more favorable!!!! How~~ thankful!!!! So how about you throw yourself to death! #nonsense But no, there really are people who say they now support homosexuality after he was criticized… ke ke ke ke ke ke Thanks!!! ke ke ke
Haeman(@haemai)
It’s complete nonsense of Jeong-Hoon Yoon that Western churches had no choice but to accept homosexuality due to spread of homosexuality which increased the number of homosexual clergymen. He only showed off his ignorance and stupidity on air when he linked homosexuality with AIDS. He seems to be devoid of not only theological knowledge but also common sense.
와이즐렉의 시사펀치(WITS)(@wiselect)
If Rev. Yoon was to tell everyone that homosexuality is a crime according to the Biblical point of view, wouldn’t he have to start by condemning the Western churches’ legalisation of homosexuality? Go criticise the American Christians to start with.
Haeman(@haemai)
Jeong-Hoon Yoon said “Korea has been free from homosexuality so far.” !? Korea has been free from Jeong-Hoon Yoon [this priest] for 5,000 years.
