Hong Joon-pyo "Couldn't Sleep Over Yoon's Arrest... Victim of Leftists' Collective Madness"

"Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye, Unjust Imprisonment"
"Yoon Will Be Seen as a Victim Over Time"
"Respond Proudly and Boldly"

Hong Jun-pyo, Mayor of Daegu Metropolitan City, expressed his mixed feelings, stating that the arrest of President Yoon Seok-yeol was caused by the collective madness of the left-wing.

On the 16th, Mayor Hong opened up on his social media account, saying, "I couldn't sleep last night." He claimed, "I couldn't sleep well thinking about the president going to detention for the fifth time since liberation. I think Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo deserved it because they went due to a coup, but Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye were victims of the collective madness of the left-wing, so their imprisonment was unfair."

Hong Joon-pyo, Mayor of Daegu Metropolitan City. Hong Joon-pyo Facebook

He continued, "Many people felt afterward that it was political retaliation by Moon Jae-in," adding, "Then how will President Yoon be evaluated? It is too early to judge, but I think President Yoon will also be seen as a victim of the collective madness of the left-wing." He also noted, "Coincidentally, all five were presidents from the conservative right-wing camp," but emphasized, "Even if you have to go, face it proudly and boldly as the president of a nation. Consider it karma and respond magnanimously."

The High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Unit (HOCI) and the police began executing the arrest warrant for President Yoon at around 4:20 a.m. on the 15th. It is known that the police deployed 1,200 personnel from the National Investigation Headquarters (NIH) special investigation team and the metropolitan investigation teams of Seoul, Southern Gyeonggi, Northern Gyeonggi, and Incheon, while HOCI sent 40 prosecutors and investigators. They presented the arrest and search warrants to President Yoon’s legal team, but lawyer Yoon Gap-geun opposed, arguing, "There are no exceptions under Articles 110 and 111 of the Criminal Procedure Act in the warrant. This is an illegal execution and amounts to rebellion."

Ultimately, HOCI and the police attempted forced entry at the entrance of the presidential residence. About 30 members of the People Power Party and President Yoon’s lawyers formed a human chain to block the arrest for over an hour, but the third defense line gate was opened, and President Yoon’s custody was secured. Shortly after the arrest, at around 10:35 a.m., President Yoon boarded a security vehicle and was transported to the HOCI office at the Government Complex Gwacheon in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province.

Even immediately after the arrest, Mayor Hong criticized the situation through SNS. He said, "The first-ever arrest of a sitting president. It feels like some country in South America," and added, "They could have waited for the impeachment procedure results, but HOCI, which has no investigative authority, had to do it with an invalid warrant?" He also expressed concern, saying, "Unlike during Park Geun-hye’s time, a significant number of people oppose the arrest," and "I worry about how this will be resolved going forward."

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