Hong Jun-pyo Steps Up to Defend Lee Jun-seok: "Belittling the Party Leader Is a Very Malicious Idea"

"Labeling as Lee Jun-seok faction is intentional insult"

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] Hong Joon-pyo, a presidential candidate from the People Power Party, criticized the internal party conflict surrounding party leader Lee Jun-seok on the 13th. Hong condemned the disparagement of Lee as an act of disparaging the People Power Party itself.

On the same day, through social media (SNS), Hong stated, "Attacking Lee as a member of the Yoo Seung-min faction and framing the conflict with candidate Yoon Seok-yeol as a factional dispute while disparaging Lee is a very malicious idea."

He continued, "It is undeniable that Lee was an intern of Yoo Seung-min when Yoo was a member of the National Assembly, but as time passed, Lee defeated all the prominent senior party members with a single horseman’s sword in the last party leader election and confidently became the party leader," adding, "This can be described as Cheongchueoram (靑出於藍, meaning the student surpasses the master)."

Hong said, "Disparaging him as a member of the Yoo Seung-min faction is truly an intentional act of humiliation," and added, "He is now the leader of the opposition who has established his own family. Disparaging him with flimsy logic is no different from disparaging the People Power Party."

Furthermore, in a separate post, Hong claimed, "The way things are going resembles the behavior of the election management committee chairman during the party leader election two years ago," and stated, "At that time, to support leader Hwang Kyo-ahn, the verification process was skipped, debates were minimally restricted, and the party leader was elected through a YouTube debate on the day of voting."

He said, "If the party leader had been properly verified and elected at that time, candidate Oh Se-hoon, who had high public support, would have become the party leader, and the general election would have been a landslide victory with a melting pot nomination without any disastrous nominations," adding, "There must never be a situation where the presidential election is ruined by lemming-style primary management."

Hong concluded, "Those working in each candidate’s camp should work diligently within their own camps, and those from specific candidate camps should refrain from collectively attacking the party leader," emphasizing, "The party leader must be the center."

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