"‘Myeongnak Meeting Moving’ vs ‘Just Drinking Makgeolli’... Mixed Evaluations Within the Democratic Party"

Kim Young-jin "Unity and Innovation Are Not Opposing"
Shin Kyung-min "Just Shouting Unity as a Goal Won't Work"

There are mixed evaluations within the party regarding the so-called 'Myeong-Nak meeting' between Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and former leader Lee Nak-yeon. It is reported that Lee Jae-myung emphasized 'unity' while Lee Nak-yeon stressed 'innovation' during the meeting.

Regarding this, the pro-Lee Jae-myung faction emphasized that unity and innovation are not opposing concepts but go hand in hand, whereas the pro-Lee Nak-yeon faction highlighted unity premised on innovation, revealing subtle differences in stance between the two sides.

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and former leader Lee Nak-yeon are having a dinner meeting at a location in Seoul on the 28th and taking a commemorative photo. / Provided by the Democratic Party of Korea. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Kim Young-jin, a close aide to Lee Jae-myung who attended the Myeong-Nak meeting, said in an interview on KBS Radio's 'Choi Kyung-young's Strong Current Affairs' on the 31st, "The unity that Lee Jae-myung talked about and the innovation that Lee Nak-yeon mentioned are not opposing points but two sides of the same coin," adding, "We talked about uniting while innovating and innovating while uniting to stop the reckless actions of the Yoon Suk-yeol government and win the next general election. That is the big picture."

Former National Intelligence Service Director Park Jie-won also evaluated on KBC Radio's 'Park Young-hwan's Current Affairs No.1' on the same day, "(Trying to) distinguish between unity and innovation to find emotional appeal is wrong," and said, "(At the meeting, the two) held hands, fought together, innovated, restored democracy and morality, and aimed for victory in the general election. There is no greater emotion than that."

On the other hand, the pro-Lee Nak-yeon faction stated, "Lee Jae-myung's side actually did not listen." Former lawmaker Shin Kyung-min, classified as pro-Lee Nak-yeon, said in a BBS Radio interview, "The two who prepared the meeting, lawmakers Yoon Young-chan and Kim Young-jin, represented the former and current leaders," adding, "Yoon's side said, 'Meeting is not easy, and the situation is very difficult now, so let's convey various messages,' but Lee Jae-myung's side actually did not pay attention to that."

He continued, "The party's press release emphasized unity, but it should be unity through innovation. Emphasizing only unity is not enough. So, no matter how much you keep shouting that the goal is unity, it won't work," stressing, "We often use the expression 'the people's level of expectation,' but ultimately it is common sense."

He added, "It was just 'Let's meet, let's drink Makgeolli,' something like that," and said, "It seems the main point was just to meet, take a photo, and emphasize the word unity. It seems Lee Jae-myung is not in a hurry yet."

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