Lee Jae-myung, the president, on the 11th criticized the Israeli government, saying it was "disappointing that, given its ceaseless anti-human-rights and anti-international-law actions that cause suffering and hardship, it has not once stopped to reflect on the world's rebukes."
On this day, the president wrote this on X (formerly Twitter) while sharing an article in which Israel's Foreign Ministry rebutted his remarks.
The president said, "It is only human to feel sorry when someone suffers because of my needs," adding, "I feel very uncomfortable watching our people, who have done nothing wrong, suddenly endure this tremendous pain and national difficulty." The president also said, "For universal human rights and Korea's national interest, I should work harder to find what can be done."
Earlier, the president shared on X the previous day a video claiming that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) tortured a Palestinian child and then threw the child off a rooftop, and said, "There is no difference between the Holocaust and killings during wartime."
The video was filmed of the IDF dropping a Palestinian's body in September 2024, and the president criticized it as a "violation of international law," saying, "International humanitarian law must be observed under any circumstances."
The video was posted by "Jvnior," a content creator who reports on the situation in the Palestinian Gaza Strip.
When the timing of the incident became a point of contention, the president posted an additional message, emphasizing, "International humanitarian law must be observed under any circumstances, and human dignity must also be upheld as a nonnegotiable top value," and "Human rights are the last bastion and a value that cannot be traded for anything."
Then Israel's Foreign Ministry, via its official X account on the morning of the same day, said, "The president made remarks that belittled the Holocaust ahead of Holocaust Remembrance Day," adding, "This is unacceptable and deserves strong condemnation."
It went on, "It is advisable to verify (the facts) before posting," and claimed, "(This incident) occurred during an operation against terrorists. It was thoroughly investigated and addressed two years ago. We have not heard anything from the president about the recent terror that Iran and Hezbollah inflicted on Israeli civilians."