![Reform Party leader Lee Jun-seok [Yonhap]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/06/09/news-p.v1.20260609.b01a1cea182a4febadd31f4d1c11c7e9_P1.png)
Reform Party leader Lee Jun-seok has criticized YouTube host Choi Wook after Choi clarified that his apology over a controversial "tank" remark was not directed at far-right groups.
Lee took to his social media account Sunday to say Choi was "clearly mistaken" about the nature of the controversy. "The core issue is not whether it is justified to run over the far right with a tank," Lee said.
Lee said Choi had adopted the very logic that defines far-right extremism. He cited historical examples such as claims that Koreans had poisoned wells and calls for a "final solution" against Jews. "Singling out a specific group and proposing physical elimination — not debate — as the solution: that is the definition of the far right," Lee said. "Choi has climbed squarely onto that same framework of thinking."
"It does not matter who the target is," Lee said. "The person who says, 'I dislike them, so I'll sweep them away' — that person is the far right." He added that Choi's insistence, even while apologizing, that the apology was not meant for the far right showed he "still doesn't get it, right to the end."
Lee expressed regret, citing his past working relationship with Choi, and urged him to grasp the gravity of the matter.
"Having worked with Choi Wook on broadcasts for a long time makes this all the more disappointing," Lee said. "Given that he himself criticized the Starbucks 'Tank Day' event, I hope he takes this issue seriously."
Lee added that "someone who says they will bulldoze the far right with a tank is precisely the person who fits the dictionary definition of far right."
The controversy began after Choi, on his pro-government YouTube channel "Maebulshow," targeted members of the online community Ilbe — short for Ilgan Best — saying they should be "clearly criminalized under the system." "Because this keeps being left alone, it becomes entertainment, becomes culture, and comes into the open," he said.
Choi said Ilbe members "idolize Chun Doo-hwan in their own way," and that online crimes should be dealt with by "running them over with a tank in the same way."
As the backlash grew, Choi apologized on his June 8 broadcast. "There were many people who were uncomfortable with my remarks about running online far-right figures — those who idolize Chun Doo-hwan's methods — over with a tank in the same way they idolize," he said. "I sincerely apologize. I am truly sorry."
However, he added that the apology was "absolutely not directed at far-right figures who glorify Chun Doo-hwan's methods," and pledged to approach his broadcasts "with even greater care going forward."
ygmoon@heraldcorp.com
