Lee Jae-myung Visits Lee Nak-yeon's Father-in-law's Funeral Hall for 20 Minutes... Reunion After 13 Months

Stayed at the funeral hall for about 20 minutes
Only showed condolences up to the front of the funeral hall
No discussion of political issues occurred

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, visited the funeral hall to pay his respects for the father-in-law of former Democratic Party leader Lee Nak-yeon on the 9th.

At around 3 p.m. that day, Lee visited the funeral hall at Samsung Medical Center in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, where the late Kim Yoon-geol, a former professor and Lee Nak-yeon's father-in-law, was laid to rest.

Lee stayed at the funeral hall for about 20 minutes, offering condolences to the deceased and the bereaved family. Attending the condolence visit were Cho Jung-sik, Secretary-General of the Democratic Party, Cheon Jun-ho, Chief of Staff, and Han Min-su, spokesperson. When leaving the funeral hall, former leader Lee Nak-yeon came out to see him off.

Former Democratic Party leader Lee Nak-yeon (left) is seeing off Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, who finished paying respects at the funeral hall set up for his father-in-law in the Samsung Seoul Hospital funeral hall in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, on the afternoon of April 9, 2023. [Joint coverage] [Image source=Yonhap News]

Lee reportedly conveyed words of comfort to former leader Lee and mainly talked about recent updates. There was no discussion of political issues.

Spokesperson Han Min-su told reporters after Lee’s condolence visit, "He expressed deep condolences, and former leader Lee responded by thanking him for coming to pay respects." He added, "Lee also asked about his research and life in the U.S., and there was a conversation to the extent that former leader Lee explained."

Chief of Staff Cheon Jun-ho also said, "They only talked about the condolence visit and expressed mourning. It was a condolence visit, so please do not assign any political meaning. They did not say much."

However, there was also a report that former leader Lee asked Lee to lead the party well.

Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Byung-hoon said about the conversation between Lee and former leader Lee, "They first talked about general matters related to the condolence visit, and there was a human story about tears during the encoffining ceremony at the burial site." He added, "Leader Lee said he really liked the special lecture given by former leader Lee, who said he would give a special lecture in Berlin in June and return to Korea in late June."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

He continued, "When former leader Lee asked him to lead the party well, Lee said he would do so," adding, "Today’s meeting was mainly focused on pure condolence, and it was a time to exchange kind words."

At the funeral hall that day, a middle-aged man shouted at Lee, "Aren’t you ashamed?" and was later guided away by people nearby. The man also shouted, "How can someone who ordered Lee Nak-yeon’s expulsion through his 'gae-ddal' come here? Does that make sense?" The man only stated, "I am a Democratic Party supporter unrelated to former leader Lee, but I got angry after coming to pay respects."

Lee did not respond to reporters’ questions after the condolence visit.

The meeting between the two was their first in 13 months and the first since the last presidential election. With Lee’s increasing legal risks, attention was focused on whether they would discuss political issues. As former rivals in the last presidential election, former leader Lee has been considered an alternative whenever Lee’s leadership was shaken.

Former leader Lee is expected to stay in Korea for about ten days before departing for the U.S. on the 18th. He is reported to be refraining from political activities.

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