'Leaving the Party' Hong Young-pyo: "Cutoff? Retaliation for Lee Jae-myung Saying He Would Appear in Court"

Declaration of Party Withdrawal in Protest of Nomination Cutoff
"Pro-Moon and Non-Moon Factions All Failed Nomination... Lee Jae-myung's Party Privatization"

On the 7th, Hong Young-pyo, a senior pro-Moon Jae-in faction lawmaker who declared his departure from the Democratic Party, said, "Only Lee Jae-myung's incendiary politics remain," adding, "The true image of the Democratic Party has been lost."

On the same day, on KBS Radio's 'Jeonggyeok Sisa,' Hong stated, "The Democratic Party has a 70-year history and tradition that follows former Presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun," and argued, "Kim Dae-jung's politics of reconciliation and inclusion and Roh Moo-hyun's politics of self-rationality have now disappeared from the Democratic Party." He continued, "Currently, only Lee's incendiary politics, which incite hatred and hostility centered on a small number of hardline party members, remain," criticizing the party.

Hong Young-pyo, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, is answering questions from reporters after holding a press conference on leaving the party at the National Assembly Communication Office on the 6th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Recently, Hong declared his departure in protest against being cut off (excluded from nomination) in Bupyeong, Incheon. At a press conference the day before, Hong said, "This Democratic Party nomination is a political massacre," and "I am leaving the fake Democratic Party where democracy has disappeared."

Hong claimed that his cut-off was retaliation. He said, "When making nominations, if there are no issues with morality or corruption and no problems with nomination suitability, it should have been reviewed from a competitiveness perspective," adding, "However, without any such process, it seems there was a plan to get rid of Hong Young-pyo because he should not be in the Democratic Party."

He continued, "In the June extraordinary session of the National Assembly last year, Lee declared parliamentary immunity but suddenly sent letters to lawmakers requesting the rejection of the arrest consent bill," and said, "At that time, I couldn't understand it myself, so I suggested going to court and signing, and that resolving this issue would allow our party to gain broader support from the public. Because of this, I was retaliated against."

He added, "I said I would accept the results if there was a primary election, but I was not even given the opportunity," and said, "They thought that if I remained in this party, I would be an obstacle to Lee's personal factionalization and a potential competitor." Hong also added, "Almost all key figures of the pro-Moon Jae-in faction and the non-Lee Jae-myung faction in the Democratic Party, such as former Presidential Chief of Staff Noh Young-min, former floor leader Park Kwang-on, and lawmaker Kang Byung-won, have been eliminated."

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