Why Did Hong Joon-pyo Ask for MB’s Presidential Courtesy? Insights from Their Secret Lunch
Daniel Kim Views
[Herald Economy=Reporter Jeon Sae-nal] Former Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo said that during a private luncheon with President Lee Jae-myung on April 17, he asked that former President Lee Myung-bak’s post-presidential honors be restored. Hong said the request reflected the camaraderie and loyalty formed when they were both political outsiders in Washington in 1999.
After the lunch, Hong wrote on Facebook that, although he never benefited from the pro-Lee Myung-bak (pro-MB) faction’s influence during Lee’s administration, he made the request because he is dismayed by a political landscape increasingly driven by personal grudges and self-interest.
He cautioned against overpoliticizing the matter, saying that crude interpretations proliferate from a lack of understanding.
He also urged the president to secure national support for a new Daegu–Gyeongbuk (TK) airport, calling the project essential for balanced national development.
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