Hong Jun-pyo: "Daegu Police Chief Unqualified to Oversee Public Security Administration"

Hong Joon-pyo, the Mayor of Daegu, repeatedly emphasized holding the Daegu Police Chief accountable in relation to the clash between the police and administrative authorities at the Daegu Queer Culture Festival.

Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo is speaking at the site of the administrative enforcement of the Daegu Queer Culture Festival held in the public transportation-only zone in Jung-gu, Daegu, on the morning of the 17th.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

On the 18th, Mayor Hong stated on Facebook, "The Daegu Police Chief, who unlawfully blocked public roads and allowed a party for queers, is not qualified to oversee public safety administration in Daegu." He added, "If there is only a report of an assembly or protest, and even in restricted assembly zones the police allow traffic to be blocked without road occupancy permits and permit their own party, the chaos in major cities of South Korea will be obvious as if watching fire. I will strictly hold them accountable to establish proper public safety order."

Mayor Hong also said, "Article 12 of the Enforcement Decree of the Assembly and Demonstration Act clearly designates major city protest restricted zones, and Dongseong-ro, which is the issue this time, is a restricted protest zone." He claimed, "If the Daegu Police Chief was unaware of this, he should resign, and if he knew and still acted this way, it could constitute the crime of special obstruction of official duties causing injury." He also revealed that he lodged a protest with the Presidential Office regarding this matter.

Earlier, on the previous day, Mayor Hong wrote on Facebook, "I hope the Daegu Police Chief, who caused inconvenience to citizens, is replaced." He said, "It is difficult to trust such a Daegu Police Chief to oversee Daegu's public safety any longer," and added, "If it were a fully autonomous local police era, I would have immediately dismissed him."

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