Author Heo Ji-woong says he received malicious messages from some hardline supporters mentioning a “cancer relapse” after he criticized the progress and outcome of former president Yoon Suk-yeol’s trial over allegations he was the ringleader of an insurrection.
Heo, who was diagnosed in 2018 with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (a malignant lymphoma) and underwent chemotherapy before completing treatment, recently shared a long message from a reader on his social media.
The reader wrote, “Your line, ‘My life may not be much to show off, but like everyone else it’s extraordinary,’ once saved me. When I’d hit rock bottom and kept thinking, ‘I’ll end it tomorrow,’ I postponed it day by day while reading your book.” The message continued, “You have saved someone’s life. I had to tell you that.”
Heo replied, “I opened my messages today expecting to find another note telling me to die, and then I read your letter.” He added, “I know people who braced for death and then rediscovered the joy of living,” encouraging the reader.
He also addressed the hate messages he’d received. “Friends from ‘Yoon Again’ keep telling me to relapse,” Heo wrote. “Cancer patients have replayed that in our heads so many times that it doesn’t cut fresh anymore.”
Earlier, Heo posted on social media criticizing the court for citing “old age” and “no prior record” as sentencing factors in Yoon Suk-yeol’s insurrection case. After that, some of the former president’s hardline supporters reportedly launched extreme cyberattacks against Heo.
Heo was diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in 2018 and underwent chemotherapy before completing treatment. At the time, he said, “There’s no other way but to endure. Let’s endure together and live to the end,” drawing widespread support.
(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Kyung-youn)