Hong Junpyo Targets Lee Administration: "One Year of Background Probes, More Petty Than Han Donghoon"

Direct Criticism of Police Investigation Into Election Expenses
Claims, "Launching Separate Probe After Failing to Find Evidence in Myung Taegyun Case"

Junpyo Hong, former Mayor of Daegu, has strongly objected to the police’s investigation into his election expenses and other matters, claiming, "Since the Lee Jae-myung administration came into power, they have been running a background investigation on me for a year." He raised his voice, insisting that even his spouse’s mobile phone had become a target of the investigation, declaring, "If I am guilty, arrest me."

On August 25, former Mayor Hong posted on his social media, "I have endured and endured, but I can no longer stay silent," adding, "Since the Lee Jae-myung administration took office, they have been carrying out a background investigation on me for a year. Recently, they have even searched my wife’s phone and have been scrutinizing every detail of my election expenses related to past presidential and Daegu mayoral primaries." He emphasized that, while the police are reportedly investigating the possibility of slush funds formed through fabricated transactions related to election expenses, he completely denies all related allegations.

Joonpyo Hong, former mayor of Daegu. Photo by the National Assembly Press Photographers Group

Hong claimed, "Every election, after an audit by the National Election Commission, only the approved amount was reimbursed. Now, because of one person’s spiteful and false report that these were reimbursed through fictitious transactions, those who volunteered at the time have all been banned from leaving the country and are being summoned daily and harassed." He continued, "The notion that 'if you implicate Junpyo Hong, you’ll be let off the hook' is spreading." He also said, "There is no way I could keep track of the various volunteer groups across the country, and the money used to support the election campaign, which these people raised voluntarily in small amounts, is being disguised as slush funds from fake transactions. Conducting coercive investigations based on the idea that you’ll get leniency if you implicate me is absurd."

Former Mayor Hong also asserted that the ongoing investigation is a separate case that evolved out of the so-called 'Myung Taegyun public opinion poll suspicion.' He stated, "Since nothing is emerging from the Myung Taegyun opinion poll case, the police are now launching yet another separate investigation. Is this an order from the Blue House? Or is it an arbitrary move by the head of the Daegu Metropolitan Police Agency, blinded by ambition, seeking to climb the career ladder by arresting me? Now it is time for the Lee Jae-myung administration to respond," he said.

Former Mayor Hong likened the current investigation to a "dust-shaking style investigation," mentioning past cases involving former People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon during his time as a prosecutor, including the investigations of former Chief Justice Yang Sung-tae and Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong. Hong Junpyo Facebook

Earlier, Hong was accused regarding suspicions that the Future Korea Research Institute, which was de facto operated by political broker Myung Taegyun, had costs for public opinion polls related to Hong’s rejoining the party, the presidential primary, and the Daegu mayoral election covered by people close to him. The Daegu Metropolitan Police Agency, which began the investigation last year, has been examining alleged violations of the Political Funds Act and the Personal Information Protection Act by Hong and his associates. The accusations included suspicions that a close aide covered 15 million won for an unpublished public opinion survey conducted before the 2022 Daegu mayoral election, as well as suspicions that, between 2021 and 2022, around 40 million won for public opinion polls related to Hong was paid by people in his circle.

There were also suspicions raised that, during the 2022 local elections, the list of People Power Party (PPP) members associated with Hong was delivered to Myung’s side and used for opinion polls. In response, Hong’s camp has maintained that these surveys were not ordered or directed by his campaign and were undertaken voluntarily by people around him.

On this day, former Mayor Hong likened the current investigation to a "dust-shaking style investigation," referencing former People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon's past role as a prosecutor in the investigations into former Supreme Court Chief Justice Yang Sung-tae and Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong. He said, "Their conduct is exactly the same as when Han Dong-hoon investigated Chief Justice Yang Sung-tae and Samsung Chairman Lee Jae-yong," referring to the results of those trials, and criticized, "It was a mean-spirited, dust-shaking style investigation. But this is even more lowbrow than Han Dong-hoon’s tactics."

Furthermore, Hong asserted that during the Moon Jae-in administration, he and his family were under prolonged investigation. "During Moon Jae-in’s term, I, my son, my wife, and even my daughter-in-law were thoroughly investigated for a year and six months," Hong said. "No matter how much they probed, nothing came up, so in the end, they apologized for the trouble and closed the case." He added, "No matter how much they run amok with their investigation, they will find nothing. Stop these sordid and petty acts. I have never lived my life that way," he concluded.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.