“My right to speak was not suspended,” Hong Joon-pyo receives a 10-month suspension of party member rights

Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo receives questions from reporters after a meeting with People Power Party floor leader Yun Jae-ok at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul on July 17. Yonhap News

Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo (Hong Jun-pyo) was suspended of his party member rights for ten months on Wednesday for playing golf while the nation suffered from the heavy downpour. However, he said, “My right to speak was not suspended,” and expressed his intention to continue voicing his views on central politics.

Wednesday night, immediately after the People Power Party’s central ethics committee decided on disciplinary measures, a post appeared on The Youth Dream, an online platform Hong runs to communicate with his supporters. “Now, in the People Power Party (PPP), there isn’t a single normal politician I want to support.” Hong commented on the post and wrote, “My right to speak was not suspended.” The Daegu mayor also commented on the post, “What should we do with the traitors who keep stabbing us in the back?” and wrote, “It’s not the first time. Why bother with it?” He also responded to the post, “I don’t want to support the People Power Party anymore,” and added the comment, “It doesn’t matter.”

Earlier on Wednesday, the PPP ethics committee gathered in the party office in Yeouido, Seoul and reached a unanimous decision on disciplinary action against Hong. Hwang Jeong-geun, the chairperson of the ethics committee, met with the press after the meeting and said, “Mayor Hong is an important political leader in the People Power Party, who served as the party leader and was also a presidential candidate. Therefore, he must live up to a higher ethical standard.” He further said, “He is a strong candidate in our party in the next presidential election, so the people have their eyes on every one of his words and actions and will evaluate the People Power Party along with the individual.”

Shortly after the decision by the ethics committee on Wednesday, Hong Joon-pyo wrote on social media, “I don’t want to argue about this issue anymore,” and expressed his position. He also wrote, “I don’t want to amplify and reproduce the conflict anymore,” and added, “I still have a long time of three years.”