Lee Seok-yeon, Chairman of the National Integration Committee, has publicly advised President Lee Jae-myung to leave the Democratic Party.

The National Integration Committee is one of the committees under the direct control of the President.

Appearing on MBC's "100-Minute Debate" yesterday (August 18), Chairman Lee said, "I would like to publicly suggest a decisive action. The national convention of the Democratic Party has now concluded," adding, "Since the Democratic Party's national convention is over, you should leave the Democratic Party now."

Chairman Lee stated, "The ruling party is competing over who is closer to the president, while the opposition party is taking an extreme stance in opposition to the president and the government," and expressed concern, saying, "I am worried whether politics centering around the president is dividing people into sides right now."

He emphasized, "The president has said at every opportunity that he will become the 'president for everyone,' but he must bear the heaviest responsibility for the current difficulties in state administration and the extreme division of public opinion."

He argued, "The Constitution does not require the president to leave the party, but if you put national integration as the top goal of state administration and truly want to become the 'president for everyone,' I hope you will now step outside the political fence of being a president belonging to a single party."

He raised his voice, saying, "Leave the Democratic Party to the new leadership, and return as the president of the people, not the president of the Democratic Party," and urged, "State administration must be operated from a bipartisan standpoint. Now is the optimal time."

He also emphasized, "Reach out your hand to the opposition party as well, meet with the opposition leader, and listen first to the stories of the figures who criticize the president the most severely," adding, "Integration begins with the person who has the greatest strength and power letting go first. The president must do so first."