Lee Nak-yeon and Chung Sye-kyun Meet for Weekend Lunch... United for 'Regime Reestablishment'

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] Former Democratic Party leader and presidential candidate Lee Nak-yeon and former Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun held a lunch meeting on the 3rd and announced that they would "work together for the birth of the 4th Democratic government."

As the party primary heats up, divided between the 'Lee Jae-myung faction vs. anti-Lee Jae-myung faction,' the joint actions of the trailing candidates aiming to check candidate Lee Jae-myung are drawing attention.

Photo by Office of Representative Lee Nak-yeon

On this day, Candidate Lee and Candidate Chung met at a restaurant in Yeouido and exchanged opinions on the party primary over lunch for about two hours. This meeting was reportedly naturally arranged during the Democratic Party primary candidates' press day on the 1st.

According to both camps, Candidate Lee and Candidate Chung agreed to work together for the success of the remaining 10 months of the Moon Jae-in administration and for the birth of the 4th Democratic government that inherits and develops the Kim Dae-jung, Roh Moo-hyun, and Moon Jae-in administrations.

Candidate Lee's camp stated, "The two agreed that leadership is needed to solve new domestic and international challenges demanded by this era of great transformation without trial and error, while preserving the Democratic Party's shining values and identity that have led democracy."

They added, "The two expressed serious concerns about the recent controversy over the identity of the party primary planning."

Recently, the Democratic Party's presidential primary planning team appointed Kim Kyung-yul, an accountant and co-author of the 'Cho Kuk Black Book,' as a preliminary primary interviewer but withdrew the appointment after about two hours due to internal opposition. The strongest opposition came from candidates Lee and Chung.

Earlier, regarding the primary schedule, both had advocated for a 'postponement of the primary,' but ultimately the party leadership did not accept this, and they stepped back from the 'principled stance' advocated by the Lee Jae-myung faction. Some view this renewed conflict over the presidential primary method as an opportunity to strengthen the unity of the anti-Lee Jae-myung faction.

On this day, the two agreed that the values and achievements of past Democratic governments must be preserved and developed. They shared the view that the party should strive to develop a fair primary that thoroughly verifies each candidate's policies, identity, and morality, and enhances public interest and participation, fostering a field of healthy competition.

Candidate Lee's camp conveyed, "Both agreed that they bear a special responsibility for the reestablishment of the administration."

Meanwhile, Candidate Lee will officially declare his candidacy on the 5th and hold a presidential campaign kickoff, while Candidate Chung, together with Assemblyman Lee Kwang-jae, will decide on a unified candidate by the 5th.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.