Hong Joonpyo Opposes Calls for Yoon's Departure: "It's Like Mutilating a Corpse"

On April 18, former Daegu Mayor Hong Joonpyo, a presidential candidate from the People Power Party, expressed his opposition to calls for former President Yoon Suk Yeol to leave the party, stating, "It is akin to mutilating a corpse."

On this day, at his presidential campaign office in Yeouido, Seoul, Hong held a presentation outlining his vision for society, education, and culture. He said, "Talking about expelling former President Yoon from the party is not just a political issue, but a matter of basic human decency," expressing his stance.

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He also addressed Representative Ahn Cheolsoo of the People Power Party, who had urged Yoon to leave the party, saying, "Candidate Ahn may not think much of leaving a party since he has switched parties multiple times, but I have defended this party for 30 years." He emphasized, "Impeachment is now in the past, so we should focus on how to unite and create the future."

Hong then explained the circumstances when he, as party leader in 2017, pushed for the expulsion of former President Park Geunhye. He said, "At that time, former President Moon Jaein was attempting to push through a socialist constitutional amendment, but we lacked enough party members to stop it. In order to allow those who had left for the Bareun Party to return, they set the expulsion of former President Park as a condition, so I was inevitably forced to expel her."

Meanwhile, Hong announced 26 detailed reform measures with the core goal of realizing a "just society and healthy community."

He pledged to reinstate the death penalty for heinous criminals and to broaden the scope of espionage charges. Pointing out that radical feminism and political correctness (PC) are encroaching on the community, he presented the restoration of the family, or "Familism," as his vision for rebuilding the community. Accordingly, he made it clear that he opposes the anti-discrimination law.

In the field of education, he presented the restoration of a CSAT-centered fair admissions system and "Yeomin Dongrak 8080" as key pledges. Yeomin Dongrak 8080 is a program that provides up to 800,000 won in educational support to middle and high school students from households earning less than 80% of the median income. This program will be combined with Seoul Mayor Oh Sehoon's educational support initiative, "Seoul Learn." Hong said, "By merging these two policies, we will create a system where children from low-income families across the country can study using Gangnam online lectures."

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