Hong Jun-pyo "Can't public officials pay to play golf... controversy again"

"Golf Was Taboo Until Now... Times Have Changed"

As criticism arose over the establishment of a civil servants' golf tournament in Daegu City, Mayor Hong Joon-pyo of Daegu raised his voice, saying, "Can't civil servants play golf on their days off using their own money?"

On the 27th, Mayor Hong said this through his Facebook, stating, "Left-wing media outlets are causing trouble again."

Hong Joon-pyo, Mayor of Daegu. Photo by Yonhap News

Earlier, the Daegu City Hall golf club 'Even Club' announced that it would hold the '1st Daegu City Civil Servants Golf Tournament' on the 7th of next month at a golf course in Changnyeong-gun, Gyeongnam. However, criticism arose when it was revealed that about 13 million KRW of Daegu City’s budget would support this golf tournament.

Regarding this, Mayor Hong explained, "It is a celebration for the civil servants who worked hard for the passage of the New Airport Special Act," adding, "I originally planned to use my personal money for the 13 million KRW budget, but since it was considered a violation of election law, the budget is being executed with advice from the election commission from the civil servants' club support budget."

He said, "Korean male and female golf players are dominating the world, so why do left-wing media treat golf as a discouraged sport?" He added, "Every time a new administration took office, golf was explicitly or implicitly banned as a means to enforce public service discipline, but times have changed and the world has changed."

Regarding holding the tournament at a golf course located in his hometown, Changnyeong-gun, Gyeongnam, he explained, "Daegu City has only one golf course, but it is a membership club, so it cannot be rented out entirely on weekends. If that happened, the members would not stay quiet."

Mayor Hong emphasized, "Golf has been a kind of taboo in the civil servant community until now. But this time, we are publicly breaking that wrong taboo," adding, "If you pay with your own money and play under your real name confidently, why is golf a discouraged sport? If you have the ability, you should do it."

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