"Jeon Hangil's 'Don't Hold On' Claim... Hong Joonpyo Defends Him as 'A Warrior of Conservatism' Regardless"

Supporter: "Absolutely Should Not Be Embraced"
Defended as "A Conservative Warrior No Matter What"

Hong Jun-pyo, the mayor of Daegu, recently praised Jeon Han-gil, a Korean history instructor who has claimed election fraud and called for opposition to the impeachment of President Yoon Seok-yeol, as a "warrior of conservatism."

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

On the 28th of last month, a post titled "Mayor Hong Jun-pyo, you must never embrace Jeon Han-gil" was uploaded on Mayor Hong's online communication platform 'Dream of Youth.' The post argued that the combination of "Hong Jun-pyo + Jeon Han-gil" was no different from saying that another conservative figure, Han Dong-hoon, should also be brought along.

The author referred to President Yoon Seok-yeol as "Mr. Yoon" and evaluated him by saying, "He demanded a 45-year sentence for former President Park Geun-hye and yet shamelessly joined the People Power Party, ousted the mayor in the primary, and made a blunder every day." Regarding former People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon, the author said, "During his time as Minister of Justice, he once blocked a pardon for Lee Myung-bak, and even now, he is diligently carrying out the mission given by Moon Jae-in to divide the right-wing."

The author then said that Jeon Han-gil was in the same context. "How can someone who openly respects Roh Moo-hyun and boasts about receiving a Roh Moo-hyun New Year calendar be called a conservative and talk about patriotism?" they criticized. The claim was that "embracing Jeon Han-gil as a conservative is a blunder or a mirror image of recognizing Roh Moo-hyun supporters as conservatives." The author appealed, "If Mayor Hong Jun-pyo does not want this conservative party, which was on the brink of collapse and was revived with great difficulty, to fall again into the hands of spies of Roh Moo-hyun and Moon Jae-in and be destroyed, please reconsider the issue of Jeon Han-gil."

In response, Mayor Hong left a reply saying, "Regardless of Jeon Han-gil’s past, he is now a warrior of conservatism."

Previously, Jeon Han-gil questioned the labeling of the rally opposing President Yoon’s impeachment as a "far-right rally," saying, "I am from Nosamo (the group Loving Roh Moo-hyun). I said we must inherit the spirit of Roh Moo-hyun who called for East-West integration, so how is that far-right?" He expressed indignation, asking, "If I am far-right, then is Nosamo also far-right?" Recently, he was invited by the People Power Party to engage in a public opinion campaign opposing impeachment, highlighting President Yoon’s mention of a "constitutional amendment based on the premise of returning to duty" during his final argument in the impeachment trial. He held a press conference at the National Assembly communication office with People Power Party lawmaker Yoon Sang-hyun, suggesting non-acceptance of the Constitutional Court’s decision if impeachment is upheld.

Jeon Han-gil argued, "The way for the Constitutional Court to survive, for the people not to be divided, and to protect liberal democracy is dismissal rather than acceptance." He said, "If impeachment is upheld, the Constitutional Court’s authority will plummet to the ends of the earth, losing its reason for existence and turning to dust." Repeating his 'enlightenment order' claim, he said, "After the declaration of emergency martial law on December 3, over time, the people were enlightened," criticizing the '29th impeachment by the Democratic Party,' which President Yoon cited as a reason for declaring emergency martial law.