President Lee and Former President Moon Share Lunch, Emphasize Unity Amid Internal Tensions

[Anchor]

President Lee Jae-myung held a luncheon with former President Moon Jae-in at the Blue House today (July 1). With internal party conflict intensifying over the Democratic Party's leadership race, the two leaders spoke with one voice to emphasize unity, though some interpreted their remarks as having subtle differences.

Reporter Park Yerim has the story.

[Reporter]

President Lee Jae-myung embraces former President Moon Jae-in upon his arrival at the Blue House.

[Moon Jae-in / Former President: How is your health? You seem to be working extremely hard.]

[Lee Jae-myung / President: My health is fine. I have a bit of a natural constitution for it.]

With the Democratic Party's national convention scheduled for August 17, the two leaders called for unity, seemingly concerned about divisions within the political camp.

[Moon Jae-in / Former President: I believe that unity within the party is the starting point for moving toward national integration.]

[Lee Jae-myung / President: We must engage in politics and administration for everyone. To do that, internal unity is crucial; the core must be solid.]

However, there was a subtle difference in the emphasis placed on the nature of that unity.

[Moon Jae-in / Former President: The Democratic Party must first unite, and then achieve a greater unity with the forces that participated in the revolution of light.]

[Lee Jae-myung / President: We must continuously expand our reach, and I believe we should strive to build a structural majority.]

The Blue House clarified that there was no disagreement between the two.

[Hong Ik-pyo / Senior Presidential Secretary for Political Affairs: Both agreed that both unity and the expansion of outreach are important.]

Democratic Party leadership hopefuls also expressed differences in their positions while agreeing on the necessity of integration.

Former Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, who visited the National Assembly and the Democratic Party immediately after his retirement ceremony this morning, and Representative Song Young-gil, who attended the inauguration ceremony of Incheon Mayor Park Chan-dae—a figure aligned with the pro-Lee faction—placed more emphasis on expansion. Meanwhile, former party leader Jung Chung-rae, who attended the inauguration of North Jeolla Province Governor Lee Won-taek, a figure aligned with the pro-Moon faction, emphasized the integration and solidarity of the pan-democratic progressive camp.

A war of nerves also unfolded as former Prime Minister Kim took aim at former leader Jung, asking, "Is there a need to serve as party leader twice?" to which Representative Choi Min-hee, who is close to Jung, retorted, "Is there a need to serve as party leader after having been Prime Minister?"

(Video coverage: Jung Sang-bo, Yoon Hyung | Video editing: Kim Jin-won)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.