Hong Ihk-pyo

Hong Ihk-pyo (Korean: 홍익표; Hanja: 洪翼杓; born 20 November 1967) is a South Korean academic and politician in the liberal Minjoo Party of Korea. Since 2012 he has been member of the National Assembly for Seongdong, Seoul. He is considered a member of the party's pro–Roh Moo-hyun faction.

Hong attracted attention in July 2013 as a spokesman for the Minjoo Party's predecessor, the Democratic Party, when he described President Park Geun-hye as a gwitae (귀태; 鬼胎), literally a "baby born to a ghost" or "ghost fetus", an uncommon term that has been applied in an abstract sense to Japanese militarism. A presidential spokesman stated that the label was "verbal abuse and a slur" and questioned Hong's "qualification as a lawmaker". Hong was forced to resign as party spokesman following the remark.

Before becoming a National Assembly member, Hong was a professor at the University of North Korean Studies. He previously worked as an advisor in the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy, and later in the Economic Research Institute for Northeast Asia from 2005 to 2006 in Japan and as senior policy advisor in the Ministry of Unification from 2007 to 2008.

Works

• 1998: (with Cho Myung-chul) North Korea's Investment Environment and Policy for Inducing Investment. Seoul: Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP).
• 2000: (with Cho Myung-chul) 中國ㆍ베트남의初期改革ㆍ開放政策과北韓의改革方向 [China and Vietnam's Early Reforms and Opening-up Policies and North Korea's Reform Direction] (in Korean). Seoul: KIEP.
• 2002: "A Shift Toward Capitalism? Recent Economic Reforms in North Korea". East Asia Review. 14 (4): 93–106.
• 2011: (with others) 북한 의 대외 경제 10년 평가: 2001-10년 [North Korea's International Economic Relations, 2001–2010] (in Korean). Seoul: KIEP.
• 2014: 한반도를 넘어 유라시아로: 홍익표의 한반도 미래전략 제안 [Beyond the Korean Peninsula to Eurasia: Hong Ihk-pyo's Future Strategy Proposals for the Korean Peninsula] (in Korean). Seoul: I&R.