Hong Joon-pyo: "Shouldn't I also warmly welcome Lee Jae-myung?"

Hong Jun-pyo, the mayor of Daegu, responded on his social media to criticism from within the People Power Party regarding his remark that "people who do not understand politics are in the presidential office," made during a meeting with Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, the previous day. He stated, "Even I should warmly welcome Leader Lee."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 10th, Mayor Hong said on SNS, "The president oversees judicial procedures, so he cannot meet the opposition leader who has been indicted for serious crimes, but even I should offer kind words and warmly welcome the opposition leader who came to see me. Would it be right for me to drive away the opposition leader?"

As Mayor Hong criticized the party and the presidential office during his meeting with Leader Lee, the ruling party is boiling with anger. Yoo Sang-beom, senior spokesperson for the People Power Party, pointed out to Yonhap News Agency the previous day, "I hope the public considers how they would view a senior party figure attacking the party leader and the presidential office during a meeting with the opposition leader."

However, Mayor Hong made it clear that he would not back down, saying, "Now that politics is missing, shouldn't we at least look for ways to restore politics? The party leader who belittled me, who was twice a presidential candidate and party leader who revived the party, by calling me a mere Daegu mayor just because I criticized him?isn't that a petty person?"

He added, "Can such a petty and narrow-minded person lead the huge ruling party? Isn't it a fact that the presidential office lacks political capability? How can the party's leadership, who have no intention of fixing this but only think about currying favor to get nominations, navigate the difficult political landscape ahead?"

He also praised Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon, who sharply stated that "People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy is a political organization." Mayor Hong said, "Minister Han is the only one in the conservative camp who fights properly," and added, "If the party leaders fought even half as skillfully as Han Dong-hoon, they wouldn't be pushed around like this."

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