Hong Jun-pyo "Grant a Reconciliation Pardon... Deep-rooted Corruption Investigation Using Hunting Dogs"

Hong Joon-pyo, Member of the People Power Party./Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Cheol-eung] Hong Joon-pyo, a presidential candidate from the People Power Party, has called for a pardon on Liberation Day.

On the 26th, Hong said on Facebook, "Please grant a grand pardon for national reconciliation that pardons all victims of the deep-rooted corruption investigations, not a selective pardon that divides the opposition." He also said, "Grant the grand pardon while you still hold the initiative. Otherwise, a day of regret will come."

He referred to the guilty verdict in the public opinion manipulation case involving Kim Kyung-soo, Governor of Gyeongnam Province. Hong stated, "The legitimacy of the Moon Jae-in administration's inauguration was greatly damaged by the public opinion manipulation case involving Druking and Kim Kyung-soo," adding, "Furthermore, at the time of the inauguration, there was an unprecedented tragedy where about 200 personnel from the Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye administrations were arrested and indicted during the so-called deep-rooted corruption investigations, and five people committed suicide during the investigations."

He continued, "Those individuals may still be wandering in limbo, unable to rest in peace. At that time, the prosecution insisted that the investigations were conducted according to the Constitution and laws, but those were not investigations based on the Constitution and laws, but rather commissioned political investigations demanded by those in power," he criticized.

Hong also said, "It was a very brutal investigation, and the prosecution was a power-serving hound borrowing the name of the law. The so-called deep-rooted corruption investigations, which indiscriminately arrested and detained opposition figures by deploying hunting dogs with a single-minded determination for revenge and retaliation, must now be criticized in the name of the people."

He emphasized, "This 8.15 grand pardon is the last chance to restore things to their original state."