Daegu City Council People Power Party Members "Deputy Mayor for Economic Affairs Must Apologize for Disparaging Remarks About Disabled People"

20 Daegu City Council Members' Statement

Daegu Deputy Mayor for Economic Affairs Hong Eui-rak's explanatory post regarding the 'disability discrimination' controversy, posted on his Facebook on December 18 last year. The problematic post has since been deleted.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Dong-wook] Daegu city council members affiliated with the People Power Party on the 28th demanded an apology, calling a post by Hong Eui-rak, Daegu Deputy Mayor for Economic Affairs, on social media (SNS) a derogatory remark against people with disabilities.

In a statement issued by Kim Ji-man, city council member (Buk-gu 2) as the representative, 20 city council members stated, "Although the Deputy Mayor for Economic Affairs may consider it a personal space, it is deeply regrettable that there has been no apology despite the disparaging and further derogatory remarks against people with disabilities on SNS."

They continued, "The city council and the city executive branch communicate and cooperate based on mutual respect, but the word 'mutual respect' cannot be found in the series of actions by the Deputy Mayor for Economic Affairs," reiterating their demand for an apology.

The Daegu City Council is composed of 25 members affiliated with the People Power Party (including 2 proportional representatives) and 5 members affiliated with the Democratic Party (including 1 proportional representative).

Earlier, regarding the differences in opinion between Mayor Kwon Young-jin and Deputy Mayor Hong on social distancing measures in the metropolitan area in response to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), on the 15th of last month, Councilor Kim pointed out, "It is regrettable that the Deputy Mayor for Economic Affairs expressed opinions that seem to cause internal confusion about the mayor’s strong response policy."

In response, Deputy Mayor Hong left a comment on his Facebook saying, "It seems like dyslexia syndrome."

After city council members raised the issue as a derogatory remark against people with disabilities, Deputy Mayor Hong posted again on the 18th of the same month, expressing regret by saying, "I have occasionally described the local atmosphere as 'SOC addiction syndrome' and 'personnel hypersensitivity syndrome.' Dyslexia syndrome was also meant to convey such an atmosphere, not to refer to any individual."

Meanwhile, Deputy Mayor Hong, a former Democratic Party member of the National Assembly (Daegu Buk-gu Eul), was appointed on June 30 last year after Mayor Kwon Young-jin’s persistent persuasion.

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