Hong Joon-pyo

Hong was formerly the chairperson of the Grand National Party (now known as Liberty Korea Party). He stepped down as the chairperson on 9 December 2011[7] and was replaced by future President Park Geun-hye.

On 20 October 2011, Hong criticized Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon's The Beautiful Foundation (아름다운재단) for sending money to left-wing citizen groups.[8] 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.[9]

He considered to rename the Grand National Party to another name after Park Won-soon won the October 2011 election.[10]

Hong was first elected as Governor of South Gyeongsang Province in 2012, and re-elected in 2014.

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, a former Korean president and dictator who is popular with older conservatives[11] and whose daughter Park Geun-hye was recently impeached amidst allegations of corruption.

Hong finished second among the five major candidates with 24% of the vote behind Moon Jae-in.[12]

Hong was elected as the chairperson of the Liberty Korea Party following his loss in the presidential election.[13]

Hong Joon-pyo in the 2020 general election, eligibility for a person, Suseong-gu, Daegu, Korea became a Member of Parliament as an independent candidate.

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 Park Geun-hye's administration, he simply stated that he would reduce corruption by putting it through a "washing machine",[14] without providing a concrete course of action.

Hong has supported maintaining a vigilant approach to national security, supporting the deployment of the Terminal High altitude Area Defense System (THAAD) from the United States. He supports "armed peace."[14]

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 Moon Jae-in on his stances on homosexuality and remarked gay soldiers were a source of weakness in Korean military.[15]