Hong Jun-pyo Asked Han Dong-hoon About the General Election, Call Dropped During Live Broadcast

During CBS Radio Phone Interview, 'Silence...'
"Rude Question as if Jealous of Han Dong-hoon"

On the 10th, during a live radio phone interview, Daegu Mayor Hong Jun-pyo abruptly ended the call when a question about Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon's potential candidacy in the general election was raised. Later, through Facebook, Mayor Hong explained that he ended the call because the question seemed rude, as if he were envying Minister Han.

That morning, Mayor Hong participated in a phone interview on CBS Radio's "Kim Hyun-jung's News Show." Toward the end of the interview, anchor Kim Hyun-jung asked, "Today's topic was one year until the general election. There has been much talk about Minister Han running or not running, whether he should or should not run. What is your opinion?"

Hong Joon-pyo, Mayor of Daegu. [Photo by Yonhap News]

In response, Mayor Hong said, "I have no opinion. It's nonsense to say 'run' or 'don't run' about any particular person. The general election is an all-out battle. If everyone can participate, they should all jump in with full force."

When anchor Kim pressed again, saying, "Some believe it would be better for Minister Han to maintain his ministerial position and act as a symbol of the government rather than run in the election," Mayor Hong replied, "That’s not something I should comment on, and the question itself is problematic," adding, "Why single out any particular person?"

When Kim said, "It seems you don’t really want to talk about Minister Han," Mayor Hong responded, "You shouldn’t say it like that. Let’s end this call. You’re twisting my words strangely," and then hung up.

Anchor Kim said, "Mayor, you can’t just hang up like that. Listeners are tuning in," and then, "Oh, you hung up just now?" sounding surprised. She added, "I think Mayor Hong mistook this for a personal call. I will call him again to hear the full story," trying to manage the situation.

Later, Mayor Hong posted on Facebook, stating, "Since the general election is an all-out battle, I said anyone should run if it helps. However, seeing the rude and persistent questions singling out Minister Han, I judged that continuing the conversation could lead to controversy, so I stopped the interview."

He also expressed regret, saying, "Interpreting and concluding the other party’s words unilaterally is not only impolite but should not be done."