Good afternoon, good night, goodness me: Fury over South Korean presidential greeting
[SEOUL] What's the difference between good afternoon and good night? In South Korea's cutthroat politics, it can be a furious political row and the foreign minister apologising to Parliament.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in visited Malaysia earlier this month and greeted his audience at an afternoon press conference with Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad using the phrase selamat sore.
The line is more commonly used in Indonesia - although the neighbours' languages are so similar they are generally mutually intelligible.
At the time, Dr Mahathir smiled and appeared amused, while senior Malaysian senior ministers laughed, but Mr Moon's South Korean critics slammed him for not using the correct Malaysian greeting selamat petang.
And his use of that phrase, meaning "good afternoon", at a dinner beginning at 8pm - rather than selamat malam, or good night - triggered another round of fury in Seoul.
Opposition lawmakers and newspapers lined up to excoriate Mr Moon, with headlines calling it a "diplomatic disaster".
The Korea Times assailed the "incompetence" of the presidential protocol team on Friday.
"The absence of a protest from the host country does not excuse the unbelievable carelessness," it added, saying it was one of a series of incidents demonstrating a "serious lack of professionalism and ethics" in the Blue House.
South Korea's foreign minister Kang Kyung-wha has apologised to Parliament, admitting that her ministry had made a "painful mistake".
"I apologise for causing concerns," she told the national assembly on Wednesday.
But an aide for the Malaysian prime minister's office told AFP that selamat sore was usable in Malaysian too.
"We were happy and amused when the president said it," he told AFP. "Personally, it is a non-issue."
AFP
KEYWORDS IN THIS ARTICLE
BT is now on Telegram!
For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes
International
China says Hamas and Fatah express will for reconciliation
US consumer confidence at lowest level since 2022
Record gold prices boost recycling: WGC
Malaysian fast food operator QSR shelves IPO plans amid boycott campaign: sources
WHO warns of bird flu risk spreading to cows outside US
Sri Lanka’s key inflation rate rises to 1.5% in April