Hong Jun-pyo: "I Will Not Support Any Specific Faction Vanguard Group Even by 1 Won"

"Blocking Support for Gang Groups That Repeatedly Oppose Using Citizens as an Excuse"

Hong Joon-pyo, the mayor of Daegu, criticized some civic groups in Daegu, saying, "These groups are nothing more than the vanguard of a specific political faction and frequently resort to lawsuits and accusations." Mayor Hong changed the mandatory closure day of large supermarkets from weekends to weekdays, and in January, he was reported to the police by some civic groups for "abusing his authority."

On the 22nd, in a post on Facebook, Mayor Hong said, "Seeing people who oppose everything under the pretext of citizens, I wonder what they actually do to make a living," and mentioned, "There are such gangster-like groups in Daegu as well."

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

He continued, "During the left-wing administration, support policies indiscriminately allowed these groups to idle away taxpayers' money, but since last year’s 8th local government administration, all such support has been completely cut off," adding, "Going forward, we will actively support civic groups engaged in healthy civic movements, but gangster-like groups that act as the vanguard of a specific political faction will not receive a single won of support from Daegu City."

Earlier, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions Service Federation Mart Industry Union and others filed a complaint against Mayor Hong and 10 others on charges of abuse of authority and obstruction of rights for pushing the change of the mandatory closure day of large supermarkets. The union claimed that Mayor Hong and others did not listen to the opinions of the mart workers, who are stakeholders, during the process of changing the mandatory closure day.

Meanwhile, the Daegu Jungbu Police Station, after investigating the complaint, decided on the 20th of this month not to prosecute Mayor Hong and the 10 others due to lack of evidence.

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