"'Flood Golf' Hong Jun-pyo, 10-Month Party Membership Suspension... 'Hope There Are No More Debates'"

Amid heavy rain, Hong Jun-pyo, the mayor of Daegu, sparked controversy by playing golf during the flood, leading the People Power Party's Central Ethics Committee to impose a severe punishment of a 10-month suspension of party membership. Mayor Hong expressed his hope that there would be no further debate on the matter.

Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo visited the press room on the 19th to express regret and bowed his head regarding the 'flood golf' controversy. Mayor Hong said, "Although it did not violate the disaster response manual, I humbly accept the criticism that it was inappropriate in a situation where flooding was a concern."
[Photo by Yonhap News]

On the 26th, the People Power Party's Central Ethics Committee held a meeting at the Yeouido party headquarters in the afternoon and announced that it had decided to suspend Mayor Hong's party membership for 10 months. The Ethics Committee reportedly made this decision after reviewing additional explanatory materials submitted by Mayor Hong. This decision came eight days after Kim Ki-hyun, the leader of the People Power Party, conducted a fact-finding investigation on the 18th and the Ethics Committee unilaterally placed the disciplinary agenda for Mayor Hong on the same day. Mayor Hong did not attend the Ethics Committee meeting.

Mayor Hong became embroiled in controversy after it was revealed that he went to a golf course in Daegu to play golf on the 15th, while heavy rain was pouring in the Chungcheong and Yeongnam regions. Despite this, on the 17th, he posted on his social media (SNS), "Where in the public service regulations does it say that you can play tennis on weekends but not golf?" When meeting with reporters, he also stated that it was "not inappropriate." The party added the worsening public opinion as a reason for the disciplinary action. When the Ethics Committee unilaterally placed the disciplinary agenda, Mayor Hong submitted an apology letter, a statement of opinion, and an emergency duty status report to the Ethics Committee.

As soon as the Ethics Committee's decision was announced on the day, Mayor Hong immediately stated through SNS, "I hope there will be no more arguments over this issue." After the Ethics Committee decided to start disciplinary proceedings on the 20th, Mayor Hong expressed dissatisfaction by posting the classical Chinese idiom "Gwahaji-yok (跨下之辱, the humiliation of crawling under the crotch)" on SNS, which further fueled the controversy. He later deleted the SNS post himself and began flood relief volunteer activities from the 24th.

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