Former Daegu Mayor Hong Jun-pyo [Yonhap]
Former Daegu Mayor Hong Jun-pyo [Yonhap]

Former Daegu Mayor Hong Jun-pyo said Wednesday that South Korea's political landscape "calls to mind the Warring States period."

In a Facebook post, Hong said the political arena had become one where "decency, loyalty and principle have vanished, leaving only a scramble for survival."

Hong added that "national interest and people's livelihoods are nothing more than hollow pretexts, and all that remains is a struggle for survival driven purely by factional logic, with no distinction between friend and foe."

Turning to President Lee Jae Myung, now in the second year of his term, Hong criticized "those already jostling for the next presidential race when the president has not even served half his term," and described a chaotic scene of "people clinging to them just to keep their own political careers alive."

Hong went on to say that "impartial, principled journalism has disappeared, replaced by partisan outlets that pick fights with each other the moment they open their eyes," adding, "I fear watching the news."

In a separate Facebook post, Hong said "the country is truly in turmoil and disarray," arguing that "the ruling party is throwing the country into confusion with its internal discord, while the opposition party is mired in infighting over the martial law party label."

Hong asked, "At a juncture when the country should be stabilizing and advancing toward becoming a leading nation, can we really afford this level of chaos?"


yul@heraldcorp.com