What does 대깨문 (daekkaemun) mean? How a self-label became a slur

Some words get hidden automatically in portal comment sections. In October 2023, one three-syllable word started a fight at the National Assembly. That word is said to have come from supporters themselves in the first place.

It's a word reported to have been born as a self-label and then turned into a weapon by others, which is why so many people search for its origin. Here's who uses it, about whom and how, with reporting from progressive and conservative outlets side by side.

Outlets broadly agree. Dailian wrote in July 2021 that it refers to Moon's ardent hardline supporters. Pressian said supporters coined it for themselves during the 2017 election but that it's now also used to deride blind support. Nocut News described it as the group that actively backs Moon. The word 대가리, a vulgar word for “head,” makes it easy for listeners to take it as an insult. A similar name for a political support base is 개딸, and a term used against people within the same camp is 수박 (“watermelon”).

• 기사에 '대깨문'이 나오면 인용인지 필자 표현인지부터 봐If an article uses 대깨문, first check whether it's a quote or the writer's own word.A talk about reading political news
• 대깨문이 무슨 말이야? 강성 지지층을 비하하는 말이야What does 대깨문 mean? It's a put-down for hardline supporters.A family watching the news
• 공개 토론회에서 당 대표가 '대깨문'을 언급해 논란이 일었다The party leader's mention of “대깨문” at a public forum stirred controversy.News style, as in 2021 reporting
• 그 표현은 상대를 비하하는 말이니 토론에서는 빼 주세요That term demeans the other side, so please leave it out of the debate.A university debate moderator
• 온라인에서는 '대깨' 뒤에 다른 이름을 붙여 쓰는 변형도 있다Online there are variants that attach other names after 대깨.Explaining derived terms

The account shared across the press is that it was a self-label during an election. Pressian wrote that supporters coined it for themselves during the 2017 presidential race. Song Young-gil, then Democratic Party leader, also said in 2021 that 투대문, 어대문 and 대깨문 were words supporters made to rally themselves and get out the vote (Dailian).

Namuwiki gives a more specific route: a women's online community had used 대깨 in idol-fan slang since 2008, and applied it to Moon around November 2016. It also says the opposing camp took it up as a taunt after Moon's election, especially after the 2019 Cho Kuk controversy.

One: it's short and strong. Three syllables carry the whole idea of unconditional support. That made it easy to repurpose as an attack.

Two: being a self-label made it easy to bring up. “They said it first” comes along as an excuse. Those on the receiving end see it differently. In 2021, former Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun criticized it as a term that demeans supporters (Dailian, Nocut News). The same word sounds different depending on who's saying it about whom.

Three: the template copies itself. Namuwiki says variants that attach other names after 대깨 spread, and in 2023 The Hankyoreh confirmed that 대깨윤 was also filtered in Daum comments. Like 내로남불 (double standards), it became political language both sides reach for. More recently, other name-led labels such as 윤어게인 (“Yoon Again”) have appeared.

We couldn't find a reliable count of how often the word is used. There were, however, two big events. The first came on July 5, 2021. At a Kwanhun Club forum, Song Young-gil, then Democratic Party leader, was asked whether pro-Moon supporters might vote for the opposition to block a certain candidate. He brought up the word and said, in effect, that such an attitude wouldn't protect President Moon. Chung Sye-kyun and lawmaker Sul Hoon demanded an apology, and former senior presidential secretary Choi Jae-sung said Song had become the party's “biggest risk factor” (Pressian, Nocut News). Song said he had meant to call for unity.

The second came on October 10, 2023. People Power Party lawmaker Park Sung-joong said Daum hid 대깨문 automatically while leaving terms aimed at conservatives, such as 쥐박이, 닭근혜 and 굥, and called its standards biased (Newsis). Kakao replied that this wasn't a political call: 대깨 contains the vulgar word 대가리, so it gets filtered. The Hankyoreh reported that it confirmed 대깨윤 was filtered as well. The two papers' headlines on the same event read very differently.

That some people once used a word for themselves doesn't give others the right to use it on them. Namuwiki notes cases where even neutral supporters get lumped in. When reading a story, first check who said it about whom, and whether it's the writer's word or a quote. We cover it so readers know what it means, not to encourage anyone to use it.

So: 대깨문 is reported to have moved from supporters' self-label to a slur. Whoever says it, someone is hearing it. When you meet it in the news, check first who's talking. If you have a sharper definition, add it to the 대깨문 entry in the dictionary.