Hong Joon-pyo: "The ruling party wants Yoon Seok-yeol... Because when corrupt candidates compete, there is no superiority"

"With No Moral Superiority, Cohesive Ruling Party Advantageous"
"Must Frame Clean Candidate vs. Dirty Candidate"

People Power Party presidential primary candidate Hong Joon-pyo / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] Hong Joon-pyo, a presidential primary candidate of the People Power Party, asserted that "a person involved in all kinds of corruption cannot win the presidential election." His remarks emphasize the importance of 'morality' above all else in this election.

On the 18th, Hong wrote on his Facebook, "We are starting a campaign of clean candidates versus dirty candidates," adding, "This is the way to win."

He continued, "The voices of the public and party members are growing louder that only the clean Hong Joon-pyo can defeat Lee Jae-myung, who is at the center of corruption allegations," and argued, "Lee Jae-myung's strategy to make Yoon Seok-yeol the opposition candidate and drag him into the Daejang-dong corruption scandal to muddy the election is clearly a deceptive tactic orchestrated by criminals."

He further emphasized, "The next presidential election should be framed as clean candidates versus dirty candidates for us to achieve a landslide victory," calling it Hong Joon-pyo's 'Clean vs. Dirty' campaign.

Before the joint presidential candidate debate for Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam on the same day, Hong also met with party members and pointed out, "Song Young-gil, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, stated that they want Yoon Seok-yeol."

Earlier that morning, Song appeared on CBS's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' and said, "I think Lee Jae-myung would be confident against anyone, but among them, they want Yoon Seok-yeol to become the opposition presidential candidate."

Regarding this, Hong explained, "The Democratic Party's sophisticated strategy is that if Yoon becomes the candidate, various corruption allegations will be buried together," adding, "If that happens, it will be the first time in presidential election history that both ruling and opposition candidates are involved in crimes and face criminal charges."

He predicted, "If candidates with similar corruption face off, there is no moral superiority," and "Ultimately, the Democratic Party candidate with strong unity will be stronger."

He also pointed out, "If a confrontational structure is created where candidates with similar corruption face each other, Yoon will also have problems," noting, "If Lee Jae-myung's side brings up the mother-in-law case, the wife case, Yoon's own involvement, and the recent Daejang-dong corruption, it will become very confusing for the public to make a choice."