Author criticizes ex-President Moon over antidiscrimination law failure despite endorsing book
Published: 12 Feb. 2026, 11:42
![Former President Moon Jae-in gives a congratulatory speech at a publishing event held at Pai Chai University, Daejeon, on Jan. 17. [NEWS1]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/02/12/e069584b-5c5c-4e2b-9db9-d54ca5270b57.jpg)
Former President Moon Jae-in gives a congratulatory speech at a publishing event held at Pai Chai University, Daejeon, on Jan. 17. [NEWS1]
Former President Moon Jae-in endorsed a book on antidiscrimination, only to have the writer call him "the person most responsible for delaying" the passing of an antidiscrimination law.
Moon on Wednesday recommended Sookmyung Women's University Prof. Song Sung-soo's recent book, "The Illusion of Not Discrminating" (translated), in a Facebook post, calling it “a textbook-like book that broadly examines what discrimination is and why it is wrong, how discrimination is structured and concealed, whether claims that banning discrimination amounts to reverse discrimination and infringes on freedom of expression are valid, and why an antidiscrimination law is necessary."
“It is a failure of politics, and I am not free from that responsibility,” Moon said, regarding the failure to pass the antidiscrimination law during his term. “It was because we failed to persuade some religious groups and others who held deep-rooted distrust and opposition, believing it would legalize same-sex marriage."
He added, “It is no longer something to be postponed. Our society must make a legislative decision."
Hong, later in the day, paid his "gratitude," also on a Facebook post.
“It is certainly welcome that he also added remarks urging a decision to enact the antidiscrimination law,” Hong said, but pointed out that Moon is “the person most responsible for delaying the legislation.”
“Even if not an outright apology, I believe he should have at least expressed regret or said he feels sorry that he was unable to push it through during his time in office,” Hong said.
“As I wrote in the book, it was extremely painful that the Moon Jae-in administration neglected its ‘historic responsibility,’ and the situation in which it is difficult to seize another opportunity continues,” Hong said. “A new antidiscrimination bill was recently proposed, but it barely secured the required 10 sponsors to be introduced, and there is especially no momentum being formed within the Democratic Party."
The antidiscrimination law refers to legislation based on the Constitution’s principle of equality that seeks to prevent discrimination on various grounds such as gender, disability, age, race, religion and sexual orientation. It was first proposed in 2007 under the Roh Moo-hyun administration, led by the Ministry of Justice, but has been delayed for 19 years due to opposition from conservative religious groups and some parents’ organizations.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY HYEON YE-SEUL [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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