Ahn Cheol-soo, a member of the People Power Party, has sparked controversy by describing Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party, as "the representative lying dead after scratching his neck in Busan" for choosing a discussion with Professor Yuval Noah Harari instead of a debate with the ruling party on AI (artificial intelligence).
On the 19th, Ahn wrote on his Facebook, "Lee Jae-myung said he would have a discussion with Professor Yuval Noah Harari in the National Assembly on March 22, but honestly, it's unexpected and disappointing."
He criticized that "a person dreaming of being a national leader avoiding discussions with domestic experts and listening to foreign scholars like a student cannot really be called a debate," pointing out Lee's silence on public debates.
He continued, "On March 5th, after the controversy surrounding Lee's K-NVIDIA remarks grew, he suggested a public debate on AI with the People Power Party, saying, 'Let's argue about who understands AI better.' I gladly accepted. I left the time and place to Lee Jae-myung, but I received no response afterward."
He then said, "However, suddenly news came that he would be discussing with Professor Harari. Choosing to avoid a public debate he proposed himself and opting for a discussion with a world-renowned scholar is very similar to the actions of President Trump, who, despite being shot and bleeding, shouted 'Fight' and reflects Lee, who appears dead after scratching his neck in Busan. That level of hardship is quite telling."
In response to Ahn's comments, Jeon Yong-ki, a member of the Democratic Party, strongly criticized on Facebook, "Has Ahn given up on being human? This is an absolutely unacceptable remark."
He questioned, "Is it really a normal way of thinking to describe someone as 'the representative lying dead after scratching his neck' in the context of a victim of attempted murder? A horrific crime has occurred where a knife was thrust into a person's neck, and the victim barely survived at the crossroads of life and death, yet this is how a politician describes it?"
Previously, on January 2nd of last year, Lee was stabbed in the left side of his neck by a weapon wielded by a 60-year-old Namsung at the site of the new airport in Gadeokdo, Gangseo-gu, Busan. The perpetrator was sentenced to 15 years in prison.