Attorney Jo Su-jin, a board member of the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation, publicly apologized after labeling group Lysenne member Woni’s use of “museopno” as an Ilbe-style expression.
On July 9, Jo wrote on her social media, “I’ve learned new facts regarding Lysenne’s Woni and want to correct my stance,” adding, “I’m worried my words may have hurt Woni. I want to apologize.” She continued, stating she would correct her remarks because she “failed to understand generational differences in dialect usage.”
This apology addressed her July 7 appearance on the YouTube channel Jang Yoon-sun’s News Convenience Store, where she claimed Woni’s “museopno” wasn’t Gyeongsang dialect but an Ilbe-style expression.
Jo explained, “I didn’t mean to blame individuals for the structural issue of young people using the Ilbe-style ‘-no’ sentence ending.” Still, she fueled controversy by insisting that although she was born in Busan and lived in Daegu for a long time, she had never heard the expression.
However, Jo said she changed her stance after hearing an explanation from Professor Kim Deok-ho of Kyungpook National University’s Department of Korean Language and Literature. She said she came to understand that while omitting “wa-iri” in the phrase “wa-iri museopno” deviates from older grammar, it’s a common form among younger speakers. In short, she acknowledged it was a misunderstanding stemming from generational differences in dialect usage.
The controversy began with a YouTube video in which Lysenne’s Japanese member Minami visited her hometown. Woni’s casual use of the Gyeongsang dialect was mistaken by some as an Ilbe-style expression, igniting debate.