[Summary] Police Investigation into Hong Jun-pyo's Daegu Mayor Election Law Violation Intensifies... "Will They Search Even Absurd Things?" Backlash

Mayor Hong: "Minor incidents turn suspects once reported"

Daegu City official analyzes, "Is it retaliation against the Queer Festival?"

The Daegu Metropolitan Police Agency has launched a sudden search and seizure operation at Daegu City Hall in connection with the 'Violation of the Public Official Election Act' complaint against Hong Jun-pyo (69), the mayor of Daegu.

About 10 investigators from the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crime Investigation Division of the Metropolitan Investigation Unit of the Daegu Metropolitan Police Agency began the search and seizure at 8:30 a.m. on the 23rd, targeting the Public Relations Officer's Office on the 4th floor of Daegu City Hall in Dongin-dong, Jung-gu, Daegu.

Daegu City Hall Dongin-dong Office Building.

Jang Sung-chul, head of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crime Investigation Division 2 of the Metropolitan Investigation Unit, stated, "The search and seizure were conducted in relation to the complaint of violation of the Public Official Election Act against Mayor Hong Jun-pyo of Daegu," adding, "Mayor Hong himself is not included in the targets of this search and seizure."

The police reportedly obtained a search warrant from the court on the 16th and executed it on this day. The Daegu Participation Solidarity had filed a complaint in February against Mayor Hong and the YouTube manager for allegedly violating election laws by posting about his achievements on social media.

Mayor Hong criticized the police on the same day, asking, "Is it appropriate to conduct a search and seizure for such a minor incident?" In a post on Facebook, he strongly protested, saying, "The complaint itself is absurd, but does filing a complaint automatically mean treating someone as a suspect? There is also the principle of proportionality in search and seizure."

Hong Joon-pyo, Mayor of Daegu.

Regarding this search and seizure, some in Daegu speculate that it might be related to the clash between Mayor Hong and the Daegu Police Chief over the road occupancy for the Daegu Queer Culture Festival that occurred on the 17th.

In response, Daegu police officials stated, "It has nothing to do with the Queer Festival."

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