Hong Jun-pyo "Election brokers' bluster shakes the nation"... Urges investigation into Myung Tae-gyun

"Illegality Must Be Revealed and Those Involved Severely Punished"
"Election Broker Victims Treated as Accomplices"

Hong Jun-pyo, the mayor of Daegu, has called for a swift investigation into Myung Tae-kyun, who has been identified as a key figure in the allegations of Kim Geon-hee's 'nomination interference.'

On the 13th, Mayor Hong wrote on his Facebook, "I cannot stand to watch a single election broker's bluster shaking the nation," and demanded the prosecution "to decisively punish him."

He emphasized, "What are you afraid of to delay the investigation? Conduct the investigation promptly and handle it strictly," adding, "Investigate without any sanctuary to clarify any illegality, severely punish those involved, and correct the wrong phenomenon where victims of election brokers are treated as if they were accomplices."

The 'election broker' mentioned by Mayor Hong is understood to be Myung. Myung is suspected of being involved in the People Power Party's candidate nominations during the June 1, 2022, National Assembly by-elections, based on his close relationship with President Yoon Seok-yeol and his wife.

Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo (left), Myung Tae-kyun, a key figure identified in connection with First Lady Kim Keon-hee's 'nomination interference suspicion' [Image source=Yonhap News, SNS capture]

Additionally, there are allegations that before the last presidential election, Myung delivered unpublished poll results to President Yoon, and during this process, about 570,000 phone numbers of People Power Party members were leaked. However, no clear evidence has emerged regarding these allegations, and Myung strongly denies them.

Meanwhile, the opposition parties, including the Democratic Party of Korea, on the 8th, named Myung as a key figure in the nomination interference allegations and demanded the introduction of a permanent special prosecutor to investigate the various suspicions surrounding Mrs. Kim. Harsh criticisms such as "the second Choi Soon-sil" and "a secret power surpassing Cheonggong" were also voiced.

On the other hand, Mayor Hong had previously referred to Myung on the 10th as an "election broker who carried 'manipulated' polls and frequented various election camps," urging the prosecution to investigate him. At that time, he said, "I knew (Myung) would cause trouble someday, but I did not expect the impact to be this big."

He added, "(Myung) is inevitably going to face judicial action anyway, so to survive, he will continue to spread falsehoods or bluster regardless of the facts," and "We must promptly investigate to uncover the truth and prevent such copycat election brokers from running rampant in politics again."

In response, Myung replied on his Facebook, "If the prosecution investigates without sanctuary, Mayor Hong might be in more danger than I am."

Afterward, Mayor Hong posted on Facebook, "A mere election broker threatened the president, and now threatens me, who has nothing to do with this," and "Talk as you please and go to jail," but deleted the post about an hour later.