People Power Party Veterans Hong Joonpyo and Chung Jinseok Clash: "Act Prudently" vs "Same to You"

[Asia Economy, reporter Naju Seok] Hong Joonpyo and Chung Jinseok, both members of the People Power Party, engaged in an unseemly war of words. The confrontation drew particular attention as it involved two of the party's most senior lawmakers, with Hong having declared his candidacy for president and Chung having previously expressed support for former Prosecutor General Yoon Seokyoul.

On July 20, Hong wrote on social media, "There is still a long way to go before the opposition primary, but some opposition figures have gone too far with their self-destructive behavior." He continued, "I can understand supporting an outsider or another person, but it is difficult to comprehend and goes too far when you mock an insider while defending an outsider."

Hong added, "Naturally, we will be divided and campaign separately during the primary, but we should also consider what happens afterward and conduct ourselves prudently as members of the National Assembly," and emphasized, "Now that I've rejoined the party, we are all one family."

Hong's comments appeared to be directed at Chung. Previously, Chung had remarked, "Representative Hong said of former Prosecutor General Yoon, 'I still don't know whether he's an ally or an enemy.' To make a lighthearted comment, there are many times when I'm not sure whether Representative Hong is an ally or an enemy either, haha."

On this day, Chung posted a message simply saying "Same to you," without mentioning Hong or others directly. However, in context, it was a response to Hong's post.

After related posts were covered by the media, Chung deleted the "Same to you" message and instead uploaded a new post titled "Let Us Focus Solely on the Great Cause of Regime Change." He wrote, "Now is the time for the broader opposition to unite as one and devote all our efforts to achieving a clear and overwhelming regime change," and added, "This is not the time to nitpick or divide into factions. Dividing into camps like 'us versus them,' as they do, is an act that betrays the great cause of regime change."

He continued, "The presidential race is different from the April 7 by-election," and declared, "Let's run an upgraded campaign compared to previous presidential elections."

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