By Lawrence Peck | Pennmike.com | April 13, 2026
By Republic of Korea – Flickr, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikipedia
Just days before this year’s solemn Holocaust Remembrance Day, Korea’s leftist President Lee Jae-myung apparently calculated that it was a good time to engage in his usual practice of glaring double standards and hypocrisy by disrespecting the memory of victims of the Holocaust and to insult Israel, Jews, and others around the world. Lee did this by spreading what is known in Western nations as a “blood libel” against Israel, by recklessly re-posting the false claims of an extremist account on the social media platform “X.”
This incident, so embarrassing to the ROK, began when the impulsive Lee apparently was sent by someone, or else had discovered on his own, an X account of a Palestinian extremist who falsely claimed that a 2024 video depicted Israeli soldiers “torturing” and throwing Palestinian “children” off the roof of a building. Lee was apparently deceived by the video, implying that it took place during the current conflict with Iran, and he failed to exercise any due diligence or basic fact checking either on the specific claim which was made or on the basic nature of the X account, before he re-posted the content. As it was soon revealed, the original post on X by the Palestinian extremist was deeply dishonest in its false description of the video.
As it turns out, the truth of the matter is that the video shows Israeli soldiers throwing off a roof the dead bodies of Palestinian terrorist fighters who had been killed in combat. The bodies thrown off the roof were not children, were not civilians, but were corpses of terrorists killed in fighting. This treatment of dead bodies, even those of terrorists, was not consistent with the rules of the Israeli Army, which mandates that dead bodies must be disposed of respectfully. However, it is important to keep in mind that this incident occurred during an active combat situation in which the terrorists had been killed, and in spite of the rules, it may have been impractical or dangerous for the Israeli troops, in the middle of a fight, to have taken the time to properly and respectfully dispose of the bodies of the terrorists killed in a firefight. Given the moral nature of the Israeli Army, the soldiers involved in this incident were later investigated by military authorities, and when the video was posted in 2024, the Israeli Army expressed deep regret for how the bodies of the dead terrorists had been improperly treated, even during that ongoing combat situation. As any honest person recognizes, since no army in history has had a perfect moral record, the moral nature of any army depends and should be assessed not on something its soldiers may do which is wrong, but rather on what the soldiers’ superiors do to investigate such wrongdoing and discipline those who may be guilty of violations.
A post uploaded by President Lee Jae-myung to X on April 10. The post sparked controversy after he cited as fact a false claim that Israeli soldiers had tortured Palestinian children, using it to condemn Israel. [X]
One of the particularly outrageous aspects of Lee’s post on X was that he linked the false claims in the video to Japan’s historical atrocities against Koreans during the colonial period, and also to the Holocaust during World War Two. Lee foolishly yet maliciously compared the incident to the destruction of European Jews by the Nazis. This deeply offensive and wildly inaccurate historical comparison by Lee, not only his repetition of the false claims made in the video, provoked justifiable anger in Israel, the U.S., and elsewhere, especially as it came just days before Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel. Since Israel could obviously not let Lee’s repetition of the false “blood libel” against Israel and his insult to the victims of the Holocaust go unanswered, the Israeli Foreign Ministry issued a statement strongly condemning Lee’s remarks for spreading the false characterization of the original post by the extremist, and more importantly, for Lee’s disgraceful Holocaust comparison. However, this criticism from Israel seems to have enraged Lee. Contrary to Lee’s carefully crafted yet false “public image” of supposed calmness, he is actually notorious in Korea for having an extremely hot temper, as exemplified by the profanity-laced sexual insults and violent threats he has reportedly made against members of his own family.
Another important aspect of Lee’s comments has not yet been sufficiently examined by the ROK media. This is the relationship between certain anti-Israel statements and views and anti-Jewish views. Criticism of Israel’s actions and the policies of its government are in some cases legitimate. Some of the strongest critics of Israeli governments and Israeli policies are the citizens of Israel, and Jewish supporters of Israel who live in other countries. However, in some cases such criticisms are not legitimate, and may be based on false or misleading information and motivated by unfair anti-Israel biases and double standards. Many countries in the free world have officially adopted the guidelines and definitions of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) regarding what constitutes legitimate criticism of Israel’s actions or policies as distinct from criticism of Israel which is not legitimate or even anti-Jewish in nature. As of January 2026, the IHRA definition of what constitutes antisemitism has been formally adopted by 1,334 entities worldwide, by 47 nations, and by the majority of U.S. states and many U.S. cities. The ROK officially adopted the IHRA definition in 2021, and the U.S. adopted it in 2016, and reaffirmed it in 2019 and again in 2023. Some of the other nations which have adopted it include Australia, Bahrain, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Poland, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The important question therefore arises: How should Lee’s remarks be characterized under the IHRA definition and guidelines?
According to the IHRA’s clear distinctions between mere criticism of Israel on the one hand, and antisemitism on the other hand, two main examples of anti-Jewish comments are those which apply double standards to Israel which are not applied to or demanded of other nations and those which compare Israeli policies or actions to those of the Nazis during the Holocaust. Based on these two specific aspects of the IHRA definition, adopted by the U.S. and the ROK, it can be argued that Lee’s comments may be considered as anti-Jewish in nature and not simply as legitimate criticism of Israel. As Korean, U.S., and Israeli media, experts on Korea, and human rights activists have pointed out, Lee’s remarks reflect a glaring double standard on his part, since he condemned Israel in ways, and with a harshness in content and tone, in which he has almost never condemned China and North Korea, even when those nations committed aggressive acts aimed at the ROK. Lee has also not condemned Hezbollah’s ongoing firing of rockets at civilian areas in Israel. As noted by some reporters, Korea experts, and North Korea human rights activists, Lee’s remarks explicitly and shamefully compared Israel’s actions to those of the Nazis during the Holocaust. Based on these two elements in the IHRA definition, legitimate concerns emerge regarding the anti-Jewish overtones of Lee’s comments. Further, since the U.S. government actively monitors statements, including those by world leaders, which fall under the IHRA definition, and because Israel is a close ally of the U.S. and the Israeli government has been highly praised by President Trump, Lee’s comments are sure to be noticed and viewed very negatively by the Trump administration and members of Congress.
One factor which has been widely noted by the ROK media and by conservative Korean legislators and other commentators is the hypocritical nature of Lee’s remarks about Israel. In this context, they point out Lee’s recent draconian crackdown on what his administration has condemned as “fake news” on social media, and in particular, Lee’s comments specifically accusing all critics of Chinese government policies of being racist against Chinese people in general. Lee’s critics have rightly noted that while his administration is prosecuting and jailing those who post false information on X, Lee has engaged in the same behavior with regard to false claims about Israel. Lee has strongly and repeatedly condemned Koreans who have been protesting against Chinese interference in and threats against their country in front of the Chinese embassy in Seoul, and ROK police have cracked down on such protests, even citing as illegal the destruction of Chinese flags and “disrespect” to pictures of Xi Jinping. However, the police, obviously acting based on the preferences of the Lee administration, have been extremely reluctant to enforce the same laws against anti-American and pro-North Korean protests in front of the U.S. embassy in Seoul, at which U.S. flags and pictures of President Trump are destroyed. This clearly shows that Lee has essentially singled out Israel, based on a double standard. Those who have posted what he views as “fake news” about his administration or about China are targeted to the full extent of ROK law, while he posts false and misleading content about Israel. That is surely the essence of hypocrisy.
In response to Israel’s criticism, Lee replied on X by “doubling down” and becoming increasingly hostile and aggressive in his remarks, accusing and condemning Israel for what he claimed was its anti-human rights and anti-international law actions, which he said were rightly being denounced by the entire world. He added that Israel should have reflected on its own alleged crimes before criticizing his remarks. These further insults and accusations by Lee provoked a firestorm of criticism of him from both mainstream and conservative media in the ROK, as well as from conservative politicians, who accused Lee of subjecting Korea to shame and needlessly provoking a serious diplomatic dispute with Israel and its American allies by recklessly posting the false claims by the Palestinian extremist, and making an outrageously insulting comparison to the Holocaust. One leading Korean conservative politician called for Lee to issue an apology to the Israeli government and people. However, the main focus of the criticism of Lee, by Korean media, conservative legislators, Christian figures, North Korea human rights activists, and Chinese dissidents, was related to Lee’s glaring double standards with regard to which nations he openly and harshly criticizes and which he fails to sufficiently criticize.
Lee’s critics have quite correctly pointed out, as ROK media also emphasized, that Lee has been subservient to the point of craven obsequiousness in terms of his administration’s relations with and strong reluctance to offer condemnations of China and North Korea, even in those cases when China has committed aggressive acts and made threats against the ROK and when North Korea has actually committed deadly attacks against the ROK. While often remaining silent about horrific crimes of state policy by China, North Korea, and Iran, Lee singled out Israel alone for the type of extremely harsh comments which he has not aimed at Korea’s tyrannical enemies. Shockingly, Lee was so enraged to the point of being emotionally unhinged by the backlash against his remarks that he proceeded to threaten the ROK conservative politicians who were criticizing his recklessness and defending Israel. Lee warned his critics that he might consider them to be traitors to the nation, and he even hinted at the severe punishment for such alleged treason under the ROK Constitution. This rhetoric of Lee mirrors that of certain neo-Nazi podcasters in the U.S. who claim that all supporters of Israel are traitors. It is also a terrifying indicator of Lee’s increasingly authoritarian mindset.
It is not yet known if Lee was a regular viewer or fan of the X account of the Palestinian extremist whose false claims Lee chose to re-post, or if Lee was sent it, or just happened to stumble upon it by accident, but regardless of how he came to be deceived by it, he either failed to notice, or did not really care, about the truly despicably hateful and racist nature of that account. If Lee had taken the time to view some of the previous posts on that account, or if he cared about the nature of that account, he would have found that it frequently included very evil and appalling anti-Christian and anti-Jewish comments. To cite only a few examples of many disgustingly false claims from that Palestinian’s account, he falsely claimed that Charlie Kirk was murdered by Jews, that the Pope is secretly Jewish, and that Jesus was a Muslim whose legacy was hijacked by Christians. That account which Lee relied on is infamous among Americans and other social media users as one that is operated by a radical, anti-American Islamist extremist who frequently insults Christians and Jews, not an ordinary Muslim. That account’s false claims and insults targeting America and Israel are very similar and are in some cases even identical to the false claims and insults made by the most anti-U.S., anti-Israel, far-left ROK politicians such as Choo Mi-ae, Song Young-gil, Park Seon-won, and especially the America-hating, Israel-hating extremist Kim Joon-hyung, by hardcore pro-North Korean websites such as Minjok Tongshin in the U.S. and Jaju Sibo in the ROK, and by openly racist, communist, and neo-Nazi websites around the world. The Palestinian extremist and radical Islamist who operates the account has thanked and praised Lee for sharing the false claims. The fact that Lee would have taken the time to view and re-post a claim from such an account is truly shocking and may lead people to wonder what other extremist accounts that Lee may often view.
One question which remains is why Lee suddenly decided to engage in such unprovoked accusations and insults against Israel, based on false claims, from such an openly extremist, anti-American, anti-Israel, anti-Christian, and anti-Jewish source. There are various reasonable theories as to Lee’s motives which are being discussed by prominent and influential conservatives, reporters, Korea experts, and human rights activists in the ROK and the U.S. Some believe that Lee, who clearly opposes President Trump’s military strikes against Iran, made this attack on Israel as a kind of veiled attack on President Trump and U.S. policies. This is a logical explanation because although Lee would be extremely reluctant to openly and harshly condemn the U.S. and President Trump, he could more easily show his displeasure with the U.S. by means of an attack on Israel which is actually a disguised attack aimed at the U.S. Another logical theory is that Lee was motivated by an effort to appeal to and show his solidarity with far-left elements within his ruling Democratic Party of Korea and also with other even more extreme-left and anti-U.S. forces within his broader support base. Lee has been urged by anti-U.S. and pro-North Korean forces within his broad base of supporters to take a tougher line against the U.S. in its conflict with Iran, and Lee’s own party has recently been torn by serious internal strife between moderate-left officials and far-left officials who are hostile to the U.S. and advocates of appeasing China and North Korea. Lee may therefore have been appealing to and showing his support for this latter faction.
An additional theory which has merit and may possibly explain Lee’s sudden provocation is that Lee, like many others, has simply been influenced by the poisonous anti-Israel propaganda which in many cases clearly overlaps with or even stems from traditional sources of anti-Jewish hatred. Political leaders can be affected by current global “intellectual fashions” just as “ordinary” people. Studies have shown that in recent years there has been a massive upsurge in anti-Jewish hatred which is often dishonestly disguised as criticism of Israel. Since some world elites have also been deeply influenced by such dangerous trends, it may be that Lee, who is certainly no expert on the Middle East conflict or Jewish history, has also been affected by this poisonous propaganda, or perhaps he just wants to “jump on the bandwagon” of “elite” anti-Israel bias. Lee may further have calculated that by openly insulting and condemning Israel and intending such remarks to be viewed as veiled criticism of the U.S., he would be appealing to and ingratiating himself not only with Iran, which is preventing Korean ships from passing through the Straits of Hormuz. Finally, and perhaps most ominously from the U.S. point of view, Lee’s comments might also be part of a cynical attempt to appeal to and ingratiate himself with China and North Korea, enemies of both the U.S. and Israel, in order to buttress his craven and clearly failing policy of appeasement towards those two nations. Attacking Israel as “stand in” or substitute for the U.S., without naming the Trump administration as his real target, may have been Lee’s deeper intention.
Korean conservative politicians, Korean reporters, as well as respected Korea experts and North Korea human rights activists in the U.S. see Lee’s remarks, regardless of his motives, as a bad miscalculation on his part. Although Lee’s remarks may soon be forgotten in the broader context of ROK domestic politics, they will not likely be forgotten in the U.S., and will have damaged Lee’s standing in the U.S., especially among those involved in shaping Korea policy, members of Congress, and officials of the Trump administration. In 2025, just before Lee’s visit to the U.S., when President Trump and other U.S. officials and members of Congress strongly and publicly criticized Lee’s persecution of some Korean Christian leaders based on their opposition to Lee’s administration, Lee’s chief of staff ran to the White House to counter such criticism, and attempted to convince U.S. officials that their concerns were unjustified. Even if Lee now makes a similar effort at “damage control” though his foreign ministry or his diplomats in the U.S., the damage he has done to the ROK’s standing in the U.S. will not soon fade. Supporters of Lee in the U.S., including Korean American lobbying organizations such as the Korean American Public Action Committee (KAPAC) which is very closely allied with Lee’s ruling Democratic Party of Korea, as well as other groups supportive of North Korea and opposed to Israel, will probably try their best to defend Lee’s remarks, but even some of Lee’s best friends in Congress, such as Representative Brad Sherman of California, will have a difficult time explaining Lee’s hostility to Israel, his double standards and hypocrisy, and his re-posting of false claims. Lee’s reckless remarks have the potential of tearing up relations with Israel, as well as ripping up relations with Israel’s U.S. allies.
*Lawrence Peck has been researching and monitoring the activities of pro-North Korea and far-left groups and activists in the U.S. for over 25 years. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and a Juris Doctor degree from Loyola Law School of Los Angeles. For several years, he lived and worked in Korea for some large Korean business groups, and he is currently an advisor to the North Korea Freedom Coalition of the U.S. Lawrence may be contacted at the following address: write.to.lawrence.now@gmail.com
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