Hong Joon-pyo Directly Attacks: "Did Yoon Investigate Like That When He Was Prosecutor General?... Looks Suspicious"

Hong Jun-pyo "Expel Yoon Camp Personnel"
Yoon Seok-yeol "No Slander Plot... Is It Necessary to Act That Way?"

People Power Party presidential primary candidates Representative Hong Joon-pyo and former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] The clash between opposition presidential candidates, former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol and Assemblyman Hong Jun-pyo, is intensifying amid allegations surrounding Yoon's 'prosecution indictment scandal.'

Earlier, Yoon's campaign raised suspicions that on August 11, Lee Pil-hyung, Head of Organization Division 1 of Hong Jun-pyo's campaign, was present at a meeting between Park Ji-won, Director of the National Intelligence Service, and Cho Sung-eun, former Vice Chairperson of the Future United Party (now People Power Party) Election Committee. In response, Assemblyman Hong escalated pressure, demanding the expulsion of Yoon's campaign members who mentioned the 'Hong Jun-pyo campaign personnel involvement theory.'

On the 15th, Hong posted on his social media, "Expel the two lawmakers and a lawyer, formerly a prosecutor, from the negative response team in Yoon's campaign who conducted false political operations," warning, "If not, they will face criminal charges later."

In another post the same day, he criticized Yoon, saying, "You formed a negative response team at the level of a law firm, including former Deputy Chief of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, and all you do is reckless political operations," and asked, "Did you investigate like this when you were a prosecutor or Prosecutor General?"

He continued, "If you made a mistake, the political convention is at least to apologize and promise to prevent recurrence," and attacked, "You show clear signs of trouble."

Yeomyeong, spokesperson for Hong Jun-pyo's campaign, also stated in a press release, "Candidate Yoon must root out the masterminds of the rumors and immediately expel them from the campaign," adding, "Hong Jun-pyo's campaign will no longer tolerate falsehood operations against the campaign."

Meanwhile, Lee, who has been firmly denying the related allegations, revealed card statements and CCTV footage to prove his whereabouts on the 11th of last month in an interview with Newsis on the 15th, asserting, "I have never met Park Ji-won or Cho Sung-eun in my life," dismissing the suspicions.

People Power Party's Yoon Seok-yeol, a preliminary candidate for the presidential primary, appeared on the YouTube live broadcast "All Day Live" held for preliminary candidates on the 12th. / Photo by Yonhap News

On the other hand, former Prosecutor General Yoon expressed displeasure, calling Assemblyman Hong's reaction excessive.

After visiting the office of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, on the 15th, Yoon told reporters regarding Hong's demand to expel three campaign members, "Is it necessary to go that far?" adding, "I didn't mention names; I only asked to identify those who were said to be present."

Regarding Lee's direct explanation, Yoon said, "The legal team in the campaign would handle the practical matters; I only heard about it," and added, "He probably said that after hearing from reporters, but if he wasn't there... (wouldn't it be irrelevant?)."

He further stated, "As members of the same party, we should compete fairly and unite for regime change," and added, "There is no slander operation, and I will ask the campaign to prevent misunderstandings and ensure a synergistic primary."

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