Hong Jun-pyo: "Park Geun-hye Pardon Is a Divide-and-Rule Tactic... Splitting the Opposition's Presidential Election Front"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] On the 24th, Hong Joon-pyo, a member of the People Power Party, expressed his sentiment of "Mansijitan (晩時之歎)," meaning "too late," regarding the special New Year's pardon granted to former President Park Geun-hye. Hong also suggested the possibility that President Moon Jae-in's decision was a "ploy" aimed at dividing the opposition.

On the 24th, Hong released his stance on former President Park's pardon through social media (SNS). He belittled the decision, saying, "The former president, who was impeached through political prosecution, was imprisoned throughout his term, and former President Lee Myung-bak was also imprisoned through political prosecution as retaliation for the investigation of former President Roh Moo-hyun. Now, it seems they got scared as the term was ending."

Hong also expressed concern that this pardon could be a scheme to divide the opposition.

He stated, "This time, by pardoning two former presidents separately, attempting to divide the opposition is truly a cunning ploy," adding, "Using a divide-and-conquer strategy to make the opposition choose a candidate and then another tactic to split the opposition's presidential election front is quite astonishing." He continued, "However, it is regrettable that we are the ones being played."

President Moon pardoned only former President Park among the two former presidents currently imprisoned on this day.

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