Lee Jae-myung and Moon Jae-in Meet at the Blue House: Calling for Unity, Yet Subtle Differences Remain

[Anchor]

President Lee Jae-myung had lunch with former President Moon Jae-in at the Blue House. With internal divisions intensifying ahead of the Democratic Party's leadership race, both leaders spoke in 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? It seems like you are working too hard.]

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

Seemingly concerned about the internal divisions within their camp ahead of the August 17 Democratic Party national convention, they both called for unity.

[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 very important; we must be solid from within.]

However, there were subtle differences in what kind of unity they emphasized.

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

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

The Blue House explained that their views were not in conflict.

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

Democratic Party leadership contenders also expressed differences in their positions while agreeing on the need for integration.

Former Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, who visited the National Assembly and the Democratic Party immediately after his retirement ceremony, and Representative Song Young-gil, who attended the inauguration ceremony of Incheon Mayor Park Chan-dae, a pro-Lee figure, 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 pro-Moon figure, emphasized the integration and solidarity of pan-democratic progressive forces.

Tensions also flared as former Prime Minister Kim took aim at former leader Jung, asking, "Is there a need to be party leader twice?" to which Representative Choi Min-hee, who is close to Jung, retorted, "Is there a need to be party leader after serving as 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.