Lee Jae-myung and Moon Jae-in Meet at Blue House: Calling for Unity, Yet Differing in Focus

[Anchor]

President Lee Jae-myung and former President Moon Jae-in held a luncheon at the Blue House. While they spoke with one voice on the need for party unity, their emphasis differed slightly.

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 you are working too hard.]

[Lee Jae-myung / President: My health is fine. I have a naturally resilient constitution.]

With the Democratic Party's national convention approaching on August 17, both men called for unity, seemingly concerned about internal divisions within the camp.

[Moon Jae-in / Former President: I believe that internal party unity 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 what they emphasized regarding the nature of that unity.

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

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

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

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

Candidates for the Democratic Party leadership 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, and Representative Song Young-gil, who attended the inauguration ceremony of Incheon Mayor Park Chan-dae—a figure close to 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 pro-Moon figure, emphasized the integration and solidarity of the pan-democratic progressive camp.

Tensions also flared as former Prime Minister Kim took a jab 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 reporting: Jung Sang-bo, Yoon Hyung | Video editing: Kim Jin-won)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.