"Tinggal minta maaf terus terang rakyat apa susahnya"
"Emang pemerintahan anjing bangsat semoga Prabowo cepat meninggal"
On X (formerly Twitter), a series of posts written in Korean that cannot be interpreted have been appearing. These so-called "alien languages" were not actually that; it turned out someone had written Indonesian words transliterated into Korean. The content critiques the political situation in Indonesia, where anti-government protests are intensifying. It is presumed that Indonesians who learned Korean are using Hangul to avoid censorship by their government.
On the 3rd, a post titled "Tinggal minta maaf terus terang rakyat apa susahnya" that appeared on the 31st of last month was viewed 680,000 times. This sentence means "just go and apologize and listen to what the people are struggling with" in Indonesian.
A post by the same author, "Kek rame… takut hilang ges" was viewed 70,000 times. This means "Ah, there are so many people… I'm afraid I might get lost."
This post received a comment saying "anjing." This word means "dog" in Indonesian and is used to insult or criticize people, similar to the Korean expression "개XX". It continues with, "Emang pemerintahan anjing bangsat semoga Prabowo cepat meninggal" (The government is dog, and I hope Prabowo dies soon).
"Aba kita santai aja" (Let's just go comfortably) "Untuk semua pejabat kalian" (To all of you officials) "Kaga bisa kerja mereka banyak yang pakai ijazah palsu" (They don't know how to work. Because there are many people using fake degrees), among other comments written in Hangul, were also posted.
The Prabowo mentioned in the Indonesian sentences written in Hangul refers to Prabowo Subianto, the President of Indonesia. Since the 25th of last month, large-scale protests have been ongoing in Indonesia. It was belatedly revealed that 580 members of the House of Representatives have been receiving 50 million rupiah (approximately 420 million won) monthly as housing allowances since September last year. This amount is ten times the minimum wage. Videos of lawmakers dancing when the bill passed also spread, further angering Indonesians.
Indonesians using Hangul is a result of censorship. Indonesian authorities quickly delete any posts deemed to criticize the government or considered illegal, and if corporations do not comply, they can impose fines or halt operations. Companies that receive a deletion notice must delete the content within 24 hours or within 4 hours in 'emergency' cases.
As the controversy arose, the Indonesian Parliament explained that it was a measure considering the rising prices in the capital Jakarta. The government violently suppressed the protestors, and on the 28th of last month, an incident occurred where a delivery driver was crushed by a police armored vehicle, further escalating the protests. President Prabowo canceled his attendance at the China Victory Day parade and expressed intentions to retract various policies, including the lawmakers' allowances.