Lee Nak-yeon: "No Significant Difference with Lee Jun-seok in Views on Welfare and North Korea"

"Both Share the Same View on Party Issues"
"Even with Differences, It's an Area for Compromise and Adjustment"
Lee Nak-yeon to Hold Party Founding Convention on 16th... Lee Jun-seok Expected to Attend

Former Democratic Party leader Lee Nak-yeon stated on the 16th that regarding the "policy differences" with former People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok, "there is nothing that cannot be compromised or adjusted." Lee, who left the Democratic Party on the 11th, is holding a founding promoter meeting for the new party "Saeroun Mirae" (New Future) that afternoon.

On the same day, Lee appeared on SBS's Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show and said, "He and I share the view that the deep problems within our respective parties mean things cannot continue as they are. It is invalid to discuss (policy gaps) based solely on the differences of the parties we belonged to." He emphasized, "From the perspective of a politician's responsible role, there is nothing that cannot be compromised or adjusted."

He further explained that there is not much difference in views with former leader Lee Jun-seok on welfare and North Korea issues. Regarding welfare, he said there is no difference within the broad framework of moderate burden and moderate welfare. On North Korea, he mentioned that they share similar thoughts on how to harmonize the dual nature of the issue?military confrontation and eventual unification. He added about Lee Jun-seok, "I was deeply impressed by his quick wit and abundance of policy ideas."

Former Democratic Party leader Lee Nak-yeon (center), who left the Democratic Party, Lee Jun-seok, chairman of the Reform New Party (tentative name) Policy Committee, who left the People Power Party (left), and Kim Jong-min, a member of the 'Principle and Common Sense' group, a faction that left the party opposing Lee Jae-myung, are seen smiling brightly during a tea time meeting at a cafe in Yeouido, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, on the morning of the 14th. (Photo by Yonhap News)

Regarding the dissident faction's withdrawal group "Principles and Common Sense" (Lee Won-wook, Kim Jong-min, Jo Eung-cheon), he said, "While the promoter meetings are held separately, the intention is to come together at a decisive moment," and suggested the possibility of solidarity with the Principles and Common Sense group before the Lunar New Year by saying, "It is meaningful to do something significant together before the holiday."

Meanwhile, Saeroun Mirae plans to conduct the adoption of the founding committee's bylaws and the election of the founding committee chair at an event held that afternoon at the Seoul Women's Plaza in Dongjak-gu, Seoul. It is reported that former People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok, Korean Hope Party leader Yang Hyang-ja, New Choice Party leader Geum Tae-seop, and lawmakers Kim Jong-min, Lee Won-wook, and Jo Eung-cheon, who left the Democratic Party, have expressed their intention to attend the event preparing for the new party's founding.

Saeroun Mirae plans to hold city and provincial party founding conventions followed by a central party founding convention, completing the official founding procedures early next month. Previously, former National Assembly Deputy Speaker Lee Seok-hyun, former lawmakers Shin Kyung-min and Choi Un-yeol, and former Goyang Mayor Choi Sung left the Democratic Party and declared their participation in Saeroun Mirae.

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