In a recent controversy, President Yoon Suk-yeol of South Korea strongly criticized a YouTube broadcast by Jeong Han-gil, a former teacher known for his extreme right-wing views, which claimed that Yoon was preparing for asylum in China by hiding vast amounts of illicit funds. Yoon condemned the broadcast as 'ridiculous and malevolent slander' and emphasized that such matters should be dealt with seriously. In response, Jeong distanced himself from these claims, asserting that the statements made on his channel were not his own official stance.

The situation escalated during a live broadcast on Jeong's channel on September 18, where he interviewed a former National Intelligence Service (NIS) operative who made wild allegations about President Yoon’s supposed dealings with China during his visit to Singapore. These claims included fantastical assertions about Yoon hiding hundreds of trillions of won and sharing military secrets, which Jeong did not oppose during the broadcast. As the backlash grew against the propagation of these unfounded conspiracy theories, Jeong remarked that such claims were not his own.

Critics argue that by allowing such baseless conspiracies to be voiced on his platform without opposition, Jeong has contributed to a potentially damaging public narrative. Jeong has also been under investigation by law enforcement for disseminating falsehoods damaging to Yoon’s reputation, which underscores the serious implications of this incident, revealing a broader context of political discourse in South Korea and the potential consequences of unchecked media narratives.