Coupang Play’s Saturday Night Live Korea (SNL Korea) used humor to address the controversial incident at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and President Yoon Seok Yeol’s previous statements on satire.
The episode featured comedian Kim Min Kyo impersonating President Yoon. Referencing the March 1st Independence Movement, he emphasized the importance of freedom, stating, “Our ancestors fought for freedom 105 years ago during the March 1st Movement. We shouldn’t do anything that undermines that spirit.”
Interestingly, this echoes President Yoon’s own words from his 2021 SNL Korea appearance as a candidate, where he said, “Satire is SNL Korea’s right, and I’ll let you continue freely.” He even mentioned finding humor in seeing President Obama being satirized on TV.
Later in the episode, the show presented a skit that cleverly referenced the KAIST incident, which involved a student being removed from the graduation ceremony after expressing his disapproval during President Yoon’s speech. While not directly replicating the specific details of the real event, the skit employed a humorous approach to draw a connection.
The scene depicted actors portraying President Yoon and his staff singing along to a popular song during the Lunar New Year festivities. Suddenly, another actor, Kwon Hyuk Soo, entered the scene singing along but was promptly gagged and removed by security guards. As he was being removed, the actor shouted, “Let me improvise!”
This comedic portrayal subtly alluded to the KAIST incident, where Shin Min Ki, a graduate and Green Party spokesperson, was escorted out of the ceremony after expressing his concerns about research and development budgets during President Yoon’s speech.
This incident followed another in January, where an opposition party member was removed from a ceremony after shaking hands with the President and demanding policy changes.
Source (1)
