Hong Joon-pyo (born 20 November 1953), also spelled as Hong Jun-pyo, is a South Korean

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, ...

and former

prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal tria ...

who is the current

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

Daegu Daegu (, , literally 'large hill', 대구광역시), formerly spelled Taegu and officially known as the Daegu Metropolitan City, is a city in South Korea. It is the third-largest urban agglomeration in South Korea after Seoul and Busan; it is ...

. He previous served as the governor of

South Gyeongsang Province South Gyeongsang Province ( ko, 경상남도, translit=Gyeongsangnam-do, ) is a province in the southeast of South Korea. The provincial capital is at Changwon. It is adjacent to the major metropolitan center and port of Busan. The UNESCO World H ...

, a member of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the r ...

for five terms, and the party leader of the

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

Grand National Party in 2011 and its successor incarnation the

Liberty Korea Party The Liberty Korea Party () was a conservative political party in South Korea that was described variously as right-wing, right-wing populist, or far-right. Until February 2017, it was known as the Saenuri Party (), and before that as the Han ...

from 2017 to 2018. He was the presidential nominee of the Liberty Korea Party in the

2017 South Korean presidential election Early presidential elections were held in South Korea on 9 May 2017 following the impeachment and removal of Park Geun-hye. The elections were conducted in a single round, on a first-past-the-post basis, and had originally been scheduled for 2 ...

and came in second place during the general election, losing to

Moon Jae-in Moon Jae-in (; ; born 24 January 1953) is a South Korean former politician, civil servant and lawyer who served as the 12th president of South Korea between 2017 and 2022. Prior to his presidency, he served as Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs an ...

. Hong ran as a candidate in the

2022 South Korean presidential election Presidential elections were held in South Korea on 9 March 2022. Under the South Korean constitution, presidents are restricted to a single five-year term, meaning that incumbent president Moon Jae-in was ineligible to run for a second term. Op ...

for the nomination of the conservative People Power Party and came in second place during the primaries, narrowly losing to

Yoon Suk-yeol Yoon Suk-yeol (; born 18 December 1960) is a South Korean politician, former public prosecutor and lawyer who has been serving as the 13th and current president of South Korea since 2022. Prior to his presidency, he served as the prosecutor ...

Early life and career

He was born in

Changnyeong Changnyeong County (''Changnyeong-gun'' 창녕군) is a county in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. In the early Three Kingdoms period, Changnyeong was the seat of Bihwa Gaya, a member of the Gaya confederacy which was later conquered by S ...

South Gyeongsang South Gyeongsang Province ( ko, 경상남도, translit=Gyeongsangnam-do, ) is a province in the southeast of South Korea. The provincial capital is at Changwon. It is adjacent to the major metropolitan center and port of Busan. The UNESCO World H ...

Province. Hong graduated from Yeungnam High School and received his undergraduate degree in Public Administration from

Korea University Korea University (KU, ) is a private research university in Seoul, South Korea, established in 1905. The university is included as one of the SKY universities, a popular acronym referring to Korea's three most prestigious universities. Th ...

Entry into Politics

In January 1996, Hong joined the New Korea Party. He was elected for the Songpa A constituency during the 1996 election and entered the National Assembly for the first time.

First tenure as Party Leader (2011)

Hong was formerly the chairperson of the Grand National Party(which changed its name to the Saenuri Party in 2012 and again changed its name to the Liberty Korea Party in 2017). He stepped down as the chairperson on 9 December 2011 and was replaced by future President

Park Geun-hye Park Geun-hye (; ; often in English ; born 2 February 1952) is a South Korean politician who served as the 11th president of South Korea from 2013 to 2017, until she was impeached and convicted on related corruption charges. Park was the fi ...

Comments on Park Won-soon

On 20 October 2011, Hong criticized Seoul Mayor

Park Won-soon Park Won-soon ( ko, 박원순; March 26, 1956July 9, 2020) was a South Korean politician, activist, and lawyer. His term ended when he took his own life due to a sexual harassment scandal. He was the longest-serving mayor of Seoul, from 2011 un ...

'
The Beautiful Foundation
(아름다운재단) for sending money to left-wing citizen groups. Hong was known to have generated much criticism against Park Won-soon in regards to Park's possible allegation of extorting tax money for his oversea visits.

Comments on former Grand National Party

He considered to rename the Grand National Party to another name after

won the October 2011 election.

Governor of South Gyeongsang Province (2012–2017)

Hong was first elected as Governor of

Province in 2012, and re-elected in 2014.

2017 South Korean presidential election

Hong secured the nomination of the Liberty Korea Party. His campaign appealed to older, conservative voters with a platform describing Hong as a "strongman." Hong has stated he wanted to be a strong man similar to

Park Chung-hee Park Chung-hee (, ; 14 November 1917 – 26 October 1979) was a South Korean politician and army general who served as the dictator of South Korea from 1961 until his assassination in 1979; ruling as an unelected military strongman from 1961 ...

, a former Korean president and dictator who is popular with older conservatives and whose daughter

was recently

impeached Impeachment is the process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In ...

amidst allegations of corruption. Hong finished second among the five major candidates with 24% of the vote behind

Second tenure as party leader (2017–2018)

Hong was elected as the leader of Liberty Korea Party following his loss in the presidential election. After leading the party to a massive loss in the 2018 local elections on 13 June 2018, Hong resigned as party leader on 14 June 2018.

Independent politician (2020–2021)

On 17 February 2020, the Liberty Korea Party dissolved and merged with several other parties to become the

United Future Party The People Power Party (; PPP), formerly known as the United Future Party (; UFP), is a conservative political party in South Korea. Controlling the South Korean presidency, it is the second largest party in the National Assembly. PPP, a ...

. Hong left the United Future Party in March 2020 after party leaders decided not to give him a candidacy in any of the upcoming 2020 legislative elections. Running as an independent candidate, Hong won the

election of Suseong B in

on 15 April 2020.

Return to People Power Party, second presidential bid (2021–present)

On 24 June 2021, Hong rejoined the People Power Party (which had formerly been called the United Future Party until 2 September 2020), and signaled a presidential bid in the upcoming

. On 29 June 2021, Hong Joon-pyo officially entered the 2022 presidential election. He placed 2nd in the final round of the primaries behind the winner Yoon Seok-yeol, winning 41.5 percent of the votes. On 26 April 2022, Hong resigned from the National Assembly after he was chosen as the People Power's nominee for the mayor of Daegu. He would go on to win the election for mayor of Daegu and begin his term on 1 July 2022.

Political positions

Corporate corruption

Hong holds economically conservative views. He supports Korean conglomerates, also known as ''chaebols'' and wants to reduce the power of labor unions. When asked how he would respond to growing concerns around corrupt practices amongst chaebols, such as those that brought down former President

's administration, he stated that he would reduce corruption by putting it through a "washing machine".

National security

Hong has supported maintaining a vigilant approach to national security, supporting the deployment of the

Terminal High Altitude Area Defense Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), formerly Theater High Altitude Area Defense, is an American anti-ballistic missile defense system designed to shoot down short-, medium-, and intermediate-range ballistic missiles in their termina ...

(THAAD) from the United States. He supports "armed peace." Hong has stated that he supports the nuclear armament of South Korea.

Anti-LGBT stance

Hong has publicly indicated that he believes that AIDS and HIV are a result of homosexuality, in order to attract the support of conservative voters. In a televised presidential debate, Hong criticized

on his stances on homosexuality and remarked gay soldiers were a source of weakness in Korean military.

Death Penalty

Hong supports the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...

. He has said he would revive capital punishment if elected.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hong, Joon-pyo 1954 births Korea University alumni Lee Myung-bak Government Right-wing populism in South Korea South Korean anti-communists Living people Governors of South Gyeongsang Province South Korean Protestants People from Changnyeong County Members of the National Assembly (South Korea) Candidates for President of South Korea Liberty Korea Party politicians People Power Party (South Korea) politicians South Korean prosecutors