Sangmin Lee: "Moon visits Lee... Former president appears to be showing support"

"Comforting by phone is more appropriate than visiting"
"Moon's personality made it difficult to just watch as an elder"

Lee Sang-min, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, evaluated former President Moon Jae-in's visit to the hospital where Representative Lee Jae-myung was admitted, saying, "It is not desirable for a former president to visit Representative Lee Jae-myung to offer consolation and send a message as if to empower him."

On the 20th, Lee appeared on Channel A's 'Political Signal' and said, "As a senior member of the party, it is understandable from a human perspective, but there are various controversies and opinions within the party regarding Representative Lee's hunger strike," adding, "Even if there was a schedule to attend an event in Seoul, was it really necessary to visit for consolation? Wouldn't it have been more appropriate to just offer comfort by phone?"

Former President Moon Jae-in is visiting Green Hospital in Jungnang-gu, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 19th to meet Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who is currently hospitalized. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Regarding the background of former President Moon's visit to Representative Lee, he said, "It is difficult to analyze precisely," but added, "Since the Yoon Seok-youl administration has taken a very hostile stance toward the Moon Jae-in administration, the immediate previous government, to the extent that it can be called a confrontation or clash between the former and current administrations, perhaps a sense of empathy born from shared suffering also played a role."

He continued, "If I were in former President Moon's position, despite having done my best to lead the government and having managed the unprecedented national disaster of COVID-19 for over three years, it is hard for anyone to view favorably the Yoon Seok-youl administration's apparent lack of intention to govern well and its tendency to shift responsibility by contrasting their failures with the previous Moon administration, as if saying 'the previous government was wrong, so therefore...'"

Lee added, "Moreover, as a senior member of the party, considering that the representative is currently on a hunger strike and even hospitalized, it might have been difficult to just overlook it, and former President Moon's personality and character likely also influenced his actions."

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