Jung Chung-rae to Attend 'Return Welcome Ceremony' Amid 'Derogatory Nickname' Controversy

[Anchor]

When President Lee Jae-myung departed for his European tour on the 9th, Democratic Party leader Jung Chung-rae was notably absent from the send-off, sparking a "passing" controversy. The Blue House announced today that leader Jung will attend the return ceremony scheduled for tomorrow, the 18th. As attention turns to whether the so-called "Myung-Jung conflict" will be resolved, derogatory terms targeting each other have even emerged among their respective supporter bases.

Reporter Park Jae-yeon has the story.

[Reporter]

Democratic Party leader Jung Chung-rae did not attend the send-off ceremony for President Lee Jae-myung's European tour on the 9th.

With Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, considered a rival for the next party leadership, in attendance, rumors of "leader Jung being passed over" grew between the pro-Lee and pro-Jung factions within the Democratic Party.

The Blue House announced today that "government officials, including the Prime Minister, and the Democratic Party leadership, including the party leader and floor leader, are scheduled to attend President Lee's return welcome ceremony tomorrow."

Presiding over the party's Supreme Council meeting this morning, leader Jung dismissed factional divisions such as "pro-Jung" or "pro-Kim" as "malicious divide-and-rule tactics by the media," and called for unity centered around President Lee.

[Jung Chung-rae/Democratic Party Leader: Everyone in the Democratic Party is 'pro-Lee' in hoping for the success of the Lee Jae-myung administration. Let us unite firmly around President Lee Jae-myung and move forward.]

He also added that the "one-member, one-vote system for all party members" he pushed for would lead to the disappearance of factions within the party.

However, the pro-Lee faction continues to raise the issue of "leader Jung's responsibility for the local elections," and demands persist regarding the "one-member, one-vote system" to address imbalances in party members by region and age.

Attacks using "derogatory nicknames" derived from the names of figures on the opposing side have even appeared among their supporter bases.

[Kim Geun-sik/Former Vision Strategy Chief of the People Power Party (Yesterday, Dong-A Ilbo YouTube): On the pro-Jung side, they call the pro-Lee faction 'Han-gang Sae-ttong Dwae-jugil' (a derogatory term). On the other side, they call the pro-Jung faction 'Moon-jo-tol-rae-yu', which is well-known.]

With Representative Lee Ki-heon, who served as a presidential secretary during the Moon Jae-in administration, requesting today that leader Jung not run in the leadership race due to concerns over internal conflict, the controversy surrounding leader Jung's potential bid for a consecutive term is growing. Observations suggest that leader Jung may step down from his post around the 24th and announce whether he will seek re-election.

(Video reporting: Oh Young-chun, Kim Yong-woo | Video editing: Wi Won-yang)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.