Kim Kyung-yul, Han Dong-hoon 'Check' Hong Joon-pyo: "Dog President Kang Hyung-wook Knows Well" Reprimand

Mayor Hong Highlights 'Handonghun Responsibility Theory' Repeatedly
Kim Says "Presidential Office Bears Major Responsibility for Election Defeat"

Daegu Mayor Hong Jun-pyo's repeated emphasis on the 'Han Dong-hoon responsibility theory' for the People Power Party's defeat in the April 10 general election was met with a response from former People Power Party Emergency Committee member Kim Kyung-yul, who said, "It is appropriate for Kang Hyung-wook to answer Hong Mayor's 'series of symptoms'." Kang, known as the so-called 'Gaetongryeong' (a portmanteau of dog and president), is a trainer who corrects problematic behaviors in dogs. This can be interpreted as likening Mayor Hong's recent harsh remarks toward Chairman Han to problematic behaviors in dogs.

Kim Kyung-yul, former Emergency Response Committee member of the People Power Party. [Image source=Yonhap News]

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

Former Emergency Committee member Kim appeared on SBS's Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show on the 15th and stated, "Do I really need to talk about Hong Mayor's series of symptoms?" Mayor Hong, on the 13th, criticized former People Power Party Emergency Committee Chairman Han Dong-hoon on his Facebook post, saying, "What kind of shame does Han Dong-hoon, who made me taste hell, have to become this party's Emergency Committee chairman?" and "As long as I am in this party, I will not forgive him."

Kim also said, "Hong Mayor has made quite insulting remarks about me as well, but I don't feel the need to respond immediately," and pointed out, "He keeps calling me Kim Kyung-yul the leftist, Han Dong-hoon the leftist, but I seriously question what exactly he is trying to assert." He added, "He keeps talking about left and right, which is a rather archaic expression," and "I think the term 'leftist' in our country's political reality is a tamed expression of the word 'red,' which used to ridicule our society and politics."

Regarding why Mayor Hong has recently strongly pushed the Han Dong-hoon responsibility theory, Kim viewed it as a political judgment to suppress former Emergency Committee Chairman Han, a leading contender for the next presidential election. As for the cause of the general election defeat, he said, "I want to point out communication issues," specifying "at the very least, communication between the party and the presidential office, or within the party, and between the party and the public."

He continued, "One of the biggest problems within the party is not just the lack of differing voices, as many media outlets have pointed out, but that voices themselves cannot be heard," and "From what I felt, rather than communication between the presidential office and the party, it seemed like the party was passively waiting unilaterally for some action from the presidential office."

He also said, "Regarding Kim Kun-hee's receipt of luxury bags, I personally took on a tremendous bomb at that time," and "Many people within the party told me, 'It would be better if you refrained from interviews in the future,' and 'It would be better if you didn't do it.'" He added, "When meeting with the media, someone would come beside me and stare intently, as if monitoring me (to see if I would cause some trouble)," and "Since I am human, I began to avoid interviews and meetings with the media."