Hong Joon-pyo "A Tearful Victory... Moon, Wake Up and Stop Oppressing the People"

Independent lawmaker Hong Joon-pyo attended as a speaker at the Mapo Forum, a gathering of current and former People Power Party lawmakers including Kim Moo-sung, on December 18 last year, delivering a lecture titled "Dreaming Korea." Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim So-young] On the evening of the 7th, independent lawmaker Hong Joon-pyo expressed his emotion over the outline of the Seoul and Busan mayoral election winners emerging according to the exit polls released by the three major broadcasting stations for the April 7 by-elections, calling it a "tearful victory after four years since the impeachment presidential election."

On the same day, Hong posted on his Facebook, saying, "It seems even heaven helps when everyone becomes one."

He said, "Both opposition leaders Kim Jong-in and Joo Ho-young worked very hard," and added, "I also thank Ahn Cheol-soo. Candidates Oh Se-hoon and Park Hyung-joon, you both worked very hard."

He expressed gratitude to the public and party members who helped, saying, "Thank you very much to all the citizens and party comrades who supported the opposition."

He then said, "Now President Moon Jae-in should come to his senses and stop oppressing the people any further," and added, "Calmly wrap up the end of your term and finish well. Everyone worked hard."

Meanwhile, in the April 7 by-elections, both Oh Se-hoon and Park Hyung-joon, candidates from the People Power Party, won by a large margin in Seoul and Busan, resulting in a crushing defeat for the ruling party.

According to the Central Election Commission on the 8th, with 100% of the votes counted in the Seoul mayoral by-election, People Power Party candidate Oh Se-hoon won with 57.50% of the vote, leading the Democratic Party candidate Park Young-sun (39.18%) by a margin of 18.32 percentage points. In the Busan mayoral by-election, candidate Park Hyung-joon achieved a landslide victory with 62.67%, nearly double the vote share of candidate Kim Young-choon (34.42%).