Hong Joon-pyo, the mayor of Daegu, stated on the 30th regarding the recent attention on the Joguk Innovation Party, "It is still too early to make a definitive judgment, but Representative Lee Jun-seok's decision is truly regrettable."
In August last year, Lee Jun-seok, former leader of the People Power Party, and Hong Joon-pyo, mayor of Daegu, attended the opening ceremony of the '2023 Daegu Chimaek Festival' held at Duryu Baseball Stadium in Dalseo-gu, Daegu. [Image source=Yonhap News]
On the same day, Mayor Hong said through his Facebook, "Around November last year, I advised Representative Lee Jun-seok, 'Next year's election will be an extreme left-right confrontation, so there is no room for a third zone. The mixed-member proportional representation system will inevitably continue as it is, so you should go for a proportional representation party.'"
He added the reasoning, "Then you would secure at least 7 to 8 seats, and Representative Lee could easily enter the National Assembly and hold the casting vote in the next presidential election."
He continued, "However, Representative Lee ignored that advice and now the Joguk Innovation Party is implementing it, growing the Democratic Party's share through 'Jimin-Bijo' (constituency seats for the Democratic Party, proportional representation seats for the Joguk Innovation Party). Because of that, the ones who lost their shine are Han Dong-hoon and Lee Jun-seok," he said, adding, "We (the conservative camp) could have done that, but the Joguk Innovation Party intercepted it."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
