Hong Jun-pyo: "What pro-Japanese elements are in the national anthem... Should trot music be banned too?"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Former Liberty Korea Party leader Hong Joon-pyo criticized Kim Won-woong, president of the Liberation Association, who pointed out the pro-Japanese actions of Ahn Ik-tae, the composer of the national anthem, and insisted on "changing the national anthem," saying, "What pro-Japanese elements are there in the national anthem?"

On the 21st, he said on Facebook, "Seeing the self-proclaimed Liberation Association president who claims that Mr. Ahn, who composed the national anthem, was a pro-Japanese collaborator and insists on changing the anthem, I thought that the country is now going downhill because such a ridiculous person has become the president of the Liberation Association."

Former leader Hong said, "The figure most rejected by the left-wing camp is not pro-Japanese collaborators but so-called 5th Republic collaborators, as they call them," and added, "It is truly pitiful to see someone who is a so-called 5th Republic collaborator desperately trying to survive by clinging to the Moon administration with chameleon-like behavior to hide their background." He was referring to Kim’s work as a party member of the Republican Party and the Democratic Justice Party in the 1970s and 1980s.

He questioned, "I want to ask what pro-Japanese elements are in the national anthem and in which part of the lyrics," and countered, "Why don’t they claim that the current trot craze, which is exciting South Korea, should be banned because its origin is enka?"

Former leader Hong said, "Watching the self-proclaimed Liberation Association president who injects incorrect historical awareness even into art, I am worried that the Liberation Association might degenerate into a strange organization because of that person on the 75th anniversary of liberation," and added, "Incompetent groups are destroying the entire country."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.