Hong Jun-pyo "Cutoff for Lawmakers Who Drank Trillions of Water Amid Contaminated Water Chaos"

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"Let's elect members of the National Assembly who are worthy of being lawmakers"

Daegu Mayor Hong Jun-pyo urged, referring to the lawmakers who drank water from tanks at the fish market during the Fukushima contaminated water discharge incident on the 8th, "This time, let's please elect lawmakers who are worthy of being lawmakers."

On the same day, Mayor Hong posted on his Facebook, saying, "During the serious situation of the Fukushima contaminated water crisis, the lawmakers who were giggling and drinking seawater from tanks at the Noryangjin Fish Market were all cut off in this nomination process." He added, "Drinking seawater from a tank is something sea squirts or sea cucumbers would do, not something a lawmaker should do," and emphasized, "Lawmakers are professionals who oversee national affairs. This time, let's please elect lawmakers who are worthy of being lawmakers."

Although Mayor Hong did not mention the names of the lawmakers, it appears he was pointing to People Power Party lawmakers Kim Young-sun and Ryu Seong-geol, members of the National Assembly's Planning and Finance Committee, who visited Noryangjin Fish Market last June before the Japanese government's discharge of Fukushima contaminated water and drank water from the tanks.

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At that time, People Power Party lawmaker Kim Young-sun asked, "Is it okay to drink this water?" then scooped water from the tank containing seafood with his hand and drank it, encouraging other lawmakers to taste it as well. Following this, lawmaker Ryu Seong-geol also drank the tank water and said, "This is completely seawater, it's salty." The intention was to directly show that discharging Fukushima contaminated water was not a problem, to alleviate public anxiety, and to support small business owners. However, since the contaminated water had not yet been discharged, this action was criticized as unconvincing.

Recently, during the People Power Party's nomination process, lawmaker Kim applied for nomination in his constituency of Changwon Uichang, Gyeongnam, then declared he would move to Gimhae Gap but was cut off. Lawmaker Ryu was also effectively excluded from nomination as his constituency, Daegu Dong-gu and Gunwi Gap, was designated as a region for public recommendation. Meanwhile, Mayor Hong also pointed out in another post, "This National Assembly, where all kinds of criminals and suspects are forming parties and running, might become a Sodo (蘇塗, a place where criminals cannot be caught even if they run away)," urging, "Let's vote wisely."