Hong Jun-pyo Furious Over Raid: "Daegu Police Chief Is Now Going Too Far"

"Investigation Structure Reform Needed to Ensure Law Enforcement Under Prosecutor Control"

Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo criticized the Daegu Police Agency's search and seizure at Daegu City Hall, saying, "The Daegu Police Chief is now going rogue," and claimed, "They are conducting retaliatory investigations against public officials."

On the 23rd, Mayor Hong stated on his social media (SNS), "Since the adjustment of investigative authority between the prosecution and police, they seem to have nothing left to hide now that they have full investigative power," expressing his opinion.

On the same day, the Daegu Police Agency conducted a search and seizure at the Daegu City Hall building in connection with a complaint filed by the Daegu Participation Solidarity in February against Mayor Hong and the Daegu City YouTube manager for violating the Public Official Election Act. However, Mayor Hong himself was not included in the target.

He raised his voice, saying, "A civic group accused our employees of election law violations they did not commit, and even the Election Commission is still investigating the case, yet now they are conducting a search and seizure of the Daegu City YouTube manager and the office," adding, "Under the support of left-wing groups, they have been coercively suppressing the lawful execution of duties by Daegu city officials, and now they are even conducting retaliatory investigations against public officials. Do they conduct search and seizures recklessly whenever a complaint is filed?"

He warned of a strong response, saying, "If investigative authority is exercised in such a manner, it is not the police but thuggery," and "Let's see how this ends."

In an additional post, Mayor Hong questioned, "Does a complaint from a left-wing group automatically make someone a suspect and a target of search and seizure? There is also the principle of proportionality in search and seizure?can such a minor case justify a search and seizure?" He added, "If the police exercise their authority in this way, the entire investigative structure must be reformed to ensure law enforcement is conducted under prosecutorial control."

He continued, "The complaint from the civic group alleges that uploading the mayor's achievements on Daegu City's YouTube channel violated election laws," and said, "Our public relations office staff managed the YouTube channel and uploaded the mayor's activities, but whether this constitutes a violation of election law is still under investigation by the Election Commission. The mayor was not involved, yet the police are leaking to the media as if I were involved, which makes me furious."

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