Hong Jun-pyo "Jokjipge Lee Jun-seok, Why Did You Fail Your Own Election?"

Gangseo District Mayor's Crushing Defeat "Must Be Taken as an Opportunity"
"Historic Defeat... Urgent Party and Government Reform Needed"

Hong Joon-pyo, Mayor of Daegu Metropolitan City, commented on the crushing defeat of the People Power Party in the by-election for the Gangseo District Office in Seoul, stating, "With six months left until the general election, this was an important opportunity to gauge public sentiment in the metropolitan area. We must turn this historic defeat into a new opportunity."

On the 12th, Mayor Hong posted on Facebook, saying, "Party and government reform (黨政刷新) is urgent. In the past, it usually took more than six months to move public sentiment, but now, with the development of various media and the power of social networking services (SNS), about three months is enough."

Mayor Hong Joon-pyo of Daegu. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

He continued, "We must present ourselves to the people with a new image. Clinging to the status quo is precisely being trapped in the vested interest cartel," adding, "It is a wise autumn morning that calls for turning this defeat into an opportunity."

Mayor Hong also mentioned that former leader Lee Jun-seok's prediction of the People Power Party's defeat by an 18 percentage point margin in this election was accurate.

He said, "However, I find it curious how former leader Lee, who predicted the results like a soothsayer, failed three times in his own elections, but I believe he will succeed this time as he has gained experience," adding, "From now on, I hope he returns from being a commentator to becoming our party's former leader."

According to the Central Election Management Committee's counting results, in the Gangseo District Office by-election, Jin Gyo-hoon, the Democratic Party candidate, won with 56.52% (137,065 votes), defeating Kim Tae-woo of the People Power Party, who received 39.37% (95,492 votes). The gap between the two candidates was 17.15 percentage points.

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