Hong Joon-pyo says he backed Kim Boo-kyum despite backlash, but Daegu residents 'didn't accept my sincerity'

Former Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo recalled that during his tenure, no amount of effort on the TK new airport project could overcome the lack of support from the central government, saying the initiative was simply beyond the power of the Daegu mayor alone.

Hong made the remarks in a Facebook post Saturday, saying that during his three years as mayor he had selected 101 projects for the TK region's next 100 years and had launched or completed about 75 percent of them while in office — but had failed to break ground on the most critical one, the TK new airport project.

"That is why, at the last local elections, I backed Kim Boo-kyum despite bracing for criticism, in order to see the TK region's key future projects through to completion," Hong said. "But the citizens of Daegu did not accept my sincerity."

He added that for three years he had worked tirelessly for the TK region's advancement without a single meal with outside figures or local power brokers, yet the people of the TK region had not embraced those efforts.

"I wonder how much more they will have to go through before they realize how hollow the years spent trapped in regional sentiment have been," he said. He added that while he could not suppress his sense of disappointment, he had decided to let such feelings go with the autumn breeze.

He still hoped the people of the region would unite once more for the TK region's advancement. "I hope they cast aside regional sentiment, cast aside party affiliation, and devote themselves solely to the future of Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province," he said.

At the previous local elections, Hong had publicly declared his support for Kim Boo-kyum, a former prime minister and Democratic Party of Korea member, as his preferred successor for the Daegu mayoral seat.

At the time, Hong wrote on Facebook that he wanted the next Daegu mayor to be someone capable and able to work with the central government. "I am not supporting the Democratic Party — I am supporting Kim Boo-kyum," he wrote.