Hong Joon-pyo: Special prosecutor push hurt Democrats' election chances

Former Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo believes the Democratic Party's bid for a special prosecutor, aimed at canceling indictments, backfired and prevented them from achieving a more decisive victory in the recent local elections. Hong stated that the public's negative reaction to the Democrats' sudden proposal of a special prosecutor for an "indictment cancellation" probe was the reason they did not secure an overwhelming win.

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The Democratic Party did not achieve an overwhelming victory because of the special prosecutor for indictment cancellation.

Writing on Facebook, Hong argued that the prosecution's own internal special investigation was sufficient to determine if the previous investigations into then-candidate Lee Jae-myung were politically motivated or involved excessive prosecution. He asserted that if the internal review found prosecutorial misconduct, an indictment cancellation should have followed that process, rather than being pursued through a special prosecutor via the National Assembly.

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The public reacted negatively to the Democrats' sudden proposal of a special prosecutor for indictment cancellation.

Hong expressed admiration for the public's balanced choice in the elections, which he described as creating a "new판" (new game or situation). He urged both the ruling and opposition parties to focus on national interests in governing the country. The Democratic Party had proposed a bill in April that would grant a special prosecutor the authority to effectively cancel indictments, but they have postponed discussions on its timing and details until after the local elections.

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It was absurd to pursue it through the National Assembly as a special prosecutor when the prosecution's own special investigation could have sufficiently revealed whether it was a politically motivated investigation or an excessive prosecution.