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Editor’s note: Global Atlanta Managing Editor Trevor Williams is traveling in South Korea, reporting on Georgia’s deepening trade and investment ties there. Check here for updates and new entries.
Hong Joon-pyo couldn’t recall right away that Coca-Cola Co. was based in Atlanta, but the mayor of Daegu, the Georgia capital’s sister city here in Korea, seems to know the power of the brand.
Mr. Hong, a former prosecutor, styles himself as a straight shooter who doesn’t sugarcoat his messaging, a persona that has served him well politically. The two-time governor of South Gyeongsang province was elected last year as mayor after narrowly missing the presidential nomination to Yoon Suk-yeol, a fellow conservative (and former prosecutor) who ended up winning and took office in May.
In an interview with Global Atlanta at his office, the mayor didn’t seem too animated by chummy talk of municipal friendship, but he lit up when given the chance to talk about his economic ambitions for Daegu, Korea’s third largest city, and its status as the “conservative heart” of Korean politics, likening it to Georgia or Texas in the U.S. (More on that in a later article)
Korean conservatism, he said, is focused on freedom, sitting at the opposite end of the continuum from liberalism, which focuses more on equality. And that freedom, he mused, is most acutely represented in the ability to respect diverse voices.
Perhaps that’s why, like many politicians in today’s hyperconnected world, where many conservatives complain of a “cancel culture” threatening to shut down their ideas, Mr. Hong is focused on speaking directly to the people through his YouTube channel, whose half-million-plus subscribers indicates a national profile far beyond running a city of 2.4 million.
Dubbed Hongka-Kolla, a not-so-subtle nod to the Atlanta-based beverage giant (complete with a red ribbon on the header graphic), the channel seems to be Mr. Hong’s way of giving his “refreshing” take on recent events, without the pesky “spin” from Korea’s vociferous free press.
Understanding views like his, and the nuances of Korean politics, is essential if Atlanta truly wants to deepen its relationship with the country through the former textile hub and current automotive parts powerhouse (see Sangsin Brake‘s investment in Duluth) where it already has a strong foothold through more than 40 years of city diplomacy.