Choi Si-won, a member of the group Super Junior and an actor, is drawing attention for posting a four-character idiom meaning the collapse of a nation or organization on the day former President Yoon Suk-yeol received his first-trial verdict.
On the 19th, Choi Si-won posted the phrase "bul-uipal-mang, tobung-wa-hae (不義必亡, 土崩瓦解)" on his official Instagram account. He had initially written "buga-sa-ui (不可思議)," then deleted it and posted the new phrase.
"Bul-uipal-mang" means that what is unjust is bound to perish, and "tobung-wa-hae" literally means earth collapses and roof tiles shatter, a term mainly used to refer to the collapse of an organization or state.
The post went up right after former President Yoon Suk-yeol, indicted as the ringleader of an insurrection related to the Dec. 3 emergency martial law incident, was sentenced to life imprisonment in the first trial. Among internet users, this prompted speculation that Choi Si-won had indirectly revealed a stance related to the verdict.
Earlier, on the 17th, Choi Si-won also wrote and posted the Spanish word "enchufados." The term is used to describe a group that, while posing as an opposition force on the surface, in fact colludes with power to enjoy privileges and benefits.
Also, in September last year, he left a message mourning the death of the far-right figure Charlie Kirk, a close associate of U.S. President Donald Trump. When controversy arose at the time, Choi Si-won said he had "mourned out of sorrow for the tragedy experienced by a family's head and a Christian, regardless of political leaning."