"Can't Tolerate Yoon's Criticism Anymore"...Netizens Report Hong Jun-pyo to CIA

Hong Joon-pyo, the mayor of Daegu Metropolitan City, has expressed his intention to run in the next presidential election, amid reports that he was reported to the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

On the 21st, a netizen presumed to be a supporter of the People Power Party posted an article titled "Reported Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo to the CIA" on an online community. The author, Mr. A, explained the reason for the report, saying, "I could no longer tolerate his constant attempts to induce division through an early presidential election and his criticism of President Yoon," and attached an image. The image contained details of Mr. A’s report of Mayor Hong to the CIA. Some People Power Party supporters who learned of this criticized, saying, "Mayor Hong has voiced opposition to the impeachment of President Yoon, so why would he do such a thing?" Meanwhile, other supporters defended Mr. A, saying, "I do not like that he is eyeing the next presidential election."

Hong Joon-pyo, Mayor of Daegu Metropolitan City. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo

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Earlier, Mayor Hong had criticized the current impeachment political situation and made his candidacy for the next presidential election a foregone conclusion. On the 20th, he posted on his social media account, "In October 2017, when I was the leader of the Liberty Korea Party, an executive from a media company visited me and said, 'This impeachment election will probably not succeed, so the opportunity to be a candidate has come to you. If it were going to succeed, would it have gone to you?' Hearing that, I was deeply shocked," adding, "It meant that even though I had been part of the conservative party for many years, I was merely an outsider to the Korean conservative forces."

He continued, "The idea that only those from elite families can become leaders of the conservative forces also appeared in the presidential primary four years later. It was a strange primary where the popular vote won but the party vote lost," and said, "Reagan and Thatcher were outsiders of their conservative parties, and even Trump was an outsider of the conservative party, so why do Korea’s vested interests think that outsiders cannot be leaders, trapped in a logic of protection? That can only be seen as a difference in the maturity of democracy." Furthermore, he stated, "I envy Representative Lee Jae-myung in that regard. But this time will be different," emphasizing, "Only outsiders can break the framework of vested interests in Korean society and create a truly advanced nation era."

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