A video reposted by President Lee Jae Myung claiming that Israeli soldiers abused a Palestinian child and then threw him off a rooftop / Captured from President Lee Jae Myung’s X (formerly Twitter) account
President Lee Jae Myung shared a video on social media, Friday, alleging that Israeli soldiers abused a Palestinian child and then threw him off a rooftop.
He wrote, “We need to verify whether this is true, and if so, what actions were taken. There is no difference between this and the Japanese wartime sexual slavery issue we raise, the massacre of Jews, or wartime killings.”
Lee made the remark on X, formerly Twitter, while sharing a video uploaded by an account named Jvnior, a Palestinian content creator who shares information about the situation on the ground in Gaza and calls for international attention.
The account has about 152,000 followers. The 20-second-long video garnered 428,000 views as of 10:30 a.m. Friday.
In the post reposted by Lee, Jvnior wrote, “IDF soldiers tortured a Palestinian kid and threw him off a roof. They call themselves ‘the most moral army.’”
However, some viewers said the video may have been filmed in September 2024, prior to the outbreak of the U.S.-Israel war on Iran this year.
Lee later confirmed the context, adding that the footage shows a real incident from that time and it was a body, not a living child. He said that the White House at the time described the incident as “deeply disturbing,” and that Israel conducted an investigation and took related measures in response.
In updated posts, the president stated, “For any reason and in any place, human rights are the last line of defense and a value that cannot be exchanged for anything.”
He also said, “Many tragedies throughout history have shown that human rights are the highest and most essential value.”
“People must not repeat past suffering through further atrocities, so that humankind can move toward a future of reconciliation, coexistence and cooperation,” he added.
The Embassy of Israel in Korea did not comment on the issue when asked by The Korea Times.
Despite Lee’s updates, opposition parties criticized the president’s sharing of the video as inappropriate.
“It is a video with an unclear source and uncertain facts. Does this effectively mean South Korea is taking Iran’s side?” Rep. Song Eon-seog, floor leader of the main opposition People Power Party, wrote on his Facebook.
He described the president as someone “who shows no interest in North Korean human rights and cannot even demand an apology for the Cheonan sinking,” referring to the 2010 sinking of a South Korean naval frigate by the North.
Minor opposition Reform Party Chairman Lee Jun-seok also wrote on his Facebook account, “It is not right for the South Korean president to express his anger by sharing an unverified video … This set a precedent where the president shares video from a foreign country to denounce the country publicly.”