The opposition parties, including the People Power Party, urged President Lee Jae-myung to "stop the unnecessary diplomatic conflict" over his ongoing argument with Israel on social media (SNS).
Song Eon-seog, the People Power Party floor leader, said in a Facebook post on the 11th, "This happened because the president directly shared on SNS (social media), without verification, a fake news item that distorted a video from two years ago as if it were recent and got the facts wrong," asking, "In the sensitive Middle East war situation, is it really in our national interest for the president to continue a diplomatic clash with the Israeli government?"
He added, "As opposition parties and as citizens of the Republic of Korea, we are by no means at ease seeing the head of state being condemned by a foreign government," and said, "We must stop unnecessary emotional conflicts with foreign governments. We urge an end to impulsive SNS postings written without review."
Park Seong-hoon, the People Power Party chief spokesperson, said in a commentary that "immediately after the president's remarks, Israel's Foreign Ministry protested harshly, saying they were unacceptable," adding, "A single finger of the president has brutally shattered the nation's dignity and credibility."
Han Dong-hoon, former People Power Party leader, said on Facebook, "The president is someone whose diplomatic philosophy is 'xiexie here, xiexie there,' so continuing remarks that keep up a last-comment fight with Israel looks more like electioneering for domestic consumption than diplomacy."
The former leader said, "If, ahead of the local elections, the aim is to divide the public for gain by provoking hard-line conservatives at home and abroad to deliberately create a front line, that is truly dangerous," adding, "The damage will come back to the people and the national economy."
Lee Jun-seok, leader of the Reform Party, also wrote on SNS, "Unless the president intended this from the start, the situation has turned into one from which the Republic of Korea has little to gain diplomatically," adding, "If it has reached the point where Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs is making an official mention, it is no longer something to just let pass. It needs to be set right diplomatically without delay, and the president's online communication style needs to be fixed."
The previous day, the president shared on X (formerly Twitter) a video claiming that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) tortured a Palestinian child and then dropped the child from a rooftop, noting, "There is no difference between the Holocaust and killings during wartime." The video was filmed in September 2024, showing the IDF dropping the body of a Palestinian.
As the timing of the incident became controversial, the president posted an additional message, saying, "International humanitarian law must be observed under any circumstances, and human dignity must also be upheld as a non-negotiable top priority," adding, "Human rights are the last bastion and a value that cannot be traded for anything."
In response, Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on its official X account on the morning of the 11th that "the president made remarks that belittled the Holocaust ahead of Holocaust Remembrance Day," adding, "This is unacceptable and deserves strong condemnation."
The president then again posted on X, openly criticizing, "Given the constant anti-human-rights and anti-international-law actions that cause suffering and hardship, one might expect at least a moment of reflection on the criticism from people around the world, but this is disappointing."