In the video, Hwang Hyun-pil, alongside the caption “The anger of citizens whose suffrage was violated,” assesses the Jamsil rally as “noble and admirable.” Hwang Hyun-pil YouTube screenshot

Hwang Hyun-pil, a Korean history lecturer who has espoused a progressive view of history, sharply criticized the progressive camp over the 6·3 local elections ballot shortage. While rebuking some progressives for their silence toward the National Election Commission (NEC), he also stressed that the young people gathered at the Jamsil rally should not be treated as “Ilbe.”

In a video posted to his YouTube channel on the 8th titled ‘Young people who know how to be angry, alive’, Hwang said the following: “The rally itself is a very beautiful sight,” and it is “truly noble and admirable.”

He criticized the progressive camp for clinging only to disputes over responsibility for the election. He said, “After the 6·3 local elections ended, they are just fighting over who did well and who did poorly, and why are they not reporting this on a large scale?”

He continued, “Up through 4·19, the 5·18 Gwangju Democratization Movement, and the June Democratic Uprising, the events in our history worthy of being recognized as legitimate were all movements to restore suffrage,” adding, “Why does the democratic progressive camp not talk about this? I felt displeased.”

Hwang also took aim at the way some within the progressive camp view the participants in the rally in front of Jamsil Olympic Stadium. He said, “You must not treat the citizens out at the Olympic Stadium as Ilbe, and even more so you must not point fingers at them,” adding, “If there are progressive citizens who pointed fingers at them, then they are the same as Syngman Rhee and Park Chung-hee.”

Emphasizing that the organizers of the rally are youth in their 20s and 30s, he also raised his voice toward the older generations. Hwang said, “Those leading the rally are in their 20s and 30s, whereas many of our subscribers are in their 40s, 50s, and 60s,” adding, “We need to discard our old-fogey mindset. There is a strong tendency to look on with the view, ‘Who are you to do anything?’”

He also said to the NEC that “even with ten mouths, there is nothing to say,” and that it had “trampled on the suffrage of the people.” However, he did not equate this incident with the 1960 3·15 fraudulent election. After explaining 3-person·5-person voting and ‘piano ballots’ at the time of 3·15, he drew a line: “It is hard to say that the 6·3 local elections were a fraudulent election,” adding, “It would take this level to be a real fraudulent election.”

While warning that some conservative forces are trying to frame the situation as “a fraudulent election led by the administration,” he repeatedly expressed support for the rally itself. Hwang concluded the video by saying, “In that young people know how to feel anger at injustice, the youth of the Republic of Korea are alive.”