"'Presidential Election Non-Participation' Declaration by Hong Jun-pyo: 'Seeing It as Party Division Is a Big Mistake... We Don't Even Have the Power for That'"

"If You Declare Baekui Jonggun, Please Take It at Face Value"

Hong Jun-pyo, a member of the People Power Party, is giving a greeting after the announcement of the vote count results at the 2nd Party Convention held on the afternoon of the 5th at the Baekbeom Kim Koo Memorial Hall in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Ju-hyung] Hong Jun-pyo, a member of the People Power Party who stated that he has no intention of participating in this presidential election, drew a clear line regarding concerns about internal conflicts within the party, saying, "It is a big mistake to see it as a failure of one team or division."

On the 7th, Hong wrote on his Facebook, "I neither have the power to divide the party nor do I intend to do so," expressing this view.

He continued, "Is it necessary to be part of the presidential election organization to be considered one team?" and asked, "If I declared from the beginning that I would serve quietly, it should be taken at face value. Picking on that with a bad attitude seems like a remnant of uniform military culture."

He added, "Our party is based on liberal democracy," emphasizing again, "Forcing individual party members' thoughts is totalitarianism. I hope this issue will no longer be raised."

On the same day, Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party's presidential candidate, posted on Facebook emphasizing cooperation with other primary candidates.

He said, "Senior Hong Jun-pyo's brief message moved my heart and shone much brighter than my acceptance speech," adding, "I will diligently learn the patriotism, experience, and wisdom shown by senior politicians. Now, we are all comrades for regime change."

Yoon Seok-yeol, People Power Party Presidential Candidate / Photo by Yonhap News

He also added, "Looking back at our party's history, we won when there was touching acceptance and unity, but lost when there was not," and said, "We will continue this beautiful tradition through regime change."

However, Hong dismissed that his role is already over in the party primary. In his Facebook post, he said, "I believe my role ended by making our party's primary dynamic and successful as a suspenseful contest in this presidential election."

This is interpreted as confirming his earlier statement on the 5th, after losing to candidate Yoon, that "I will serve quietly as an ordinary party member in this presidential election."

He also criticized, saying, "I have no intention of participating in the first-ever corruption-suspected presidential election led by the prosecution."

However, Hong said, "I plan to create the 'Youth's Dream' platform, a playground for the enthusiastic supporters in their 20s to 40s, to talk about the world with them and proceed with future political schedules," adding, "I want to spend the rest of my political life with the youth and middle-aged people of this land, sharing dreams and hopes with leisure and romance."

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