Hong Joon-pyo: "Cho Kuk is not a real man... Telling his wife 'You should go to prison'"

Independent lawmaker Hong Joon-pyo, whose reinstatement to the People Power Party was decided, is holding a press conference at the National Assembly Communication Office on the 24th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Soyoung] Hong Joon-pyo, a member of the People Power Party, sharply criticized former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk by saying, "Cho Kuk is not a real man."

On the evening of the 28th, at a youth policy talk show held at a cafe in Mapo-gu, Seoul, Representative Hong stated, "I don't think this is the time to talk about feminism," adding, "I would understand if we talked about humanism."

Regarding 'gender sensitivity,' he claimed, "In sexual crimes, the common saying is 'if a woman says she was victimized, then she was victimized,'" and called it "a wrong ruling by the Supreme Court."

He continued, "I can understand rulings that one-sidedly favor women, but I think some rulings have gone too far," adding, "The Supreme Court justice who first used the term 'gender sensitivity' in a ruling was my classmate from the Judicial Research and Training Institute."

Representative Hong said, "If the gender sensitivity budget is cut, women's groups will not stay silent," and added, "It's better not to get criticized."

Meanwhile, he explained, "I have never spent my salary myself. My wife holds all the household financial authority," and said, "I am someone who goes out and deals with the world."

He added, "I take full responsibility for my wife, whether she does well or not."

Then, targeting former Minister Cho, he said, "During the 'Cho Kuk incident,' watching Cho's behavior, I thought, 'That guy is not a real man.' If he did something wrong, he should go to jail himself, not his wife."

Representative Hong had pointed this out in the past as well. On October 22, 2019, on MBC's '100-Minute Debate,' he raised his voice, saying, "I would never push my wife like that. Why would I be angry at Cho Kuk? Because he is not a real man."

At that time, Representative Hong criticized, "How can he hesitate to resign from the ministerial position even for a day while his wife (Professor Jung Kyung-shim of Dongyang University) is being driven like that? Where is the law that says, 'You go to jail' to a woman? If it were me, I would take responsibility. I would rather go to jail myself."

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