Jung Chung-rae to Attend 'Welcome Home' Ceremony for President Lee; 'Derogatory Nicknames' Spark Controversy Among Supporters

[Anchor]

When President Lee Jae-myung departed for his European tour on the 9th, the absence of Democratic Party leader Jung Chung-rae sparked a "passing" controversy. The Blue House announced that leader Jung will attend the welcome ceremony upon the President's return today (the 18th). This is interpreted as an effort to mend the so-called "Myung-Chung conflict," but derogatory terms have emerged among the supporters of both sides.

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 potential rival for the next party leadership, in attendance, the "passing of leader Jung" controversy grew between the pro-Lee and pro-Jung factions of the Democratic Party.

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

Presiding over the party's Supreme Council meeting yesterday morning, leader Jung stated that factional labels such as "pro-Jung" and "pro-Kim" are "malicious attempts by the media to divide the party," and called for unity centered around President Lee.

[Jung Chung-rae / Democratic Party Leader: Everyone in the Democratic Party is 'pro-Lee' in wishing 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 person, one vote for all party members" system 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 there are ongoing demands to address the regional and age-based imbalances of party members regarding the "one person, one vote" system.

"Derogatory nicknames" based on the names of figures from the opposing sides have even appeared among their respective supporter bases.

[Kim Keun-sik / Former Vision Strategy Chief of the People Power Party (The day before yesterday, Dong-A Ilbo YouTube): The pro-Jung Chung-rae side calls the pro-Lee faction 'Han-gang Sae-ttong Dwae-ju-gil.' On this side, they call the pro-Jung side 'Moon-jo-tol-rae-yu,' which is well-known.]

As controversy grows over whether leader Jung will seek a consecutive term—with lawmaker Lee Ki-heon, who served as a secretary at the Blue House during the Moon Jae-in administration, requesting yesterday that Jung not run for the leadership election due to concerns over internal conflict within the ruling camp—there is speculation that Jung may step down from his post around the 24th to announce his decision on seeking re-election.

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