"Humiliated by the Bank Over Unpaid Election Funds"
"Fair Polls Are Needed to Prevent Distortion of Public Opinion"
Hong Joon-pyo, Mayor of Daegu Metropolitan City, introduced his troubled history with certain polling organizations and argued that people should not be misled by biased polls.
On the 2nd, Mayor Hong opened his post on his social media account by saying, "I have a persistent bad relationship with Korea Gallup. Everyone who knows about it is aware." He recalled, "During the impeachment presidential election in May 2017, I did not surpass 10% in the Korea Gallup poll that was publicly released," adding, "If you do not exceed 15%, you cannot receive reimbursement for presidential election funds, so I experienced the humiliation of being checked daily by the bank that lent me the election funds through the Yeouido research institute's polls."
He continued, "Even when I was the leader of the Liberty Korea Party (the predecessor of the People Power Party), Korea Gallup consistently released harsh results against us in various polls," and said, "I could not tolerate it and protested to the U.S. Gallup headquarters on behalf of the party. They explained that 'Korea Gallup is a franchise of another Gallup that split off from the original U.S. Gallup.'" He added, "Since then, we decided not to trust Korea Gallup in any polls. There was even an order to exclude Korea Gallup from the top 10 polling organizations," and said, "During the last presidential primary, I also requested Korea Gallup to exclude my name from their polls."
Mayor Hong emphasized, "The presidential election season may come again, and I hope the public will not be deceived by such biased polls," adding, "Poll results can vary depending on how the organization designs the survey." Finally, he said, "Did you not see Myung Tae-gyun's poll during the last presidential primary? Fair polling is necessary so that public opinion is not distorted."
Last month, Mayor Hong also voiced on social media, "Although I have consistently opposed impeachment, we must prepare for cases where it might be derailed by the collective madness of the left," and said, "We must not hand over power to Lee Jae-myung." At that time, he appealed about the need for regime re-creation, saying, "Emotions or feelings alone cannot change the world. Even if an impeachment presidential election takes place, we must regain power so that President Yoon Seok-youl and the country can survive."
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