Lee Jae Myung stresses unity, expansion in luncheon with Moon Jae-in

President Lee Jae Myung on Wednesday stressed the importance of unity within the ruling Democratic Party (DP) for broader governance during a rare one-on-one meeting with former President Moon Jae-in amid a growing rift within the DP ahead of its leadership race.

”Fundamentally, we must engage in politics and administration that represent and serve everyone,” Lee said during the luncheon with Moon at the Blue House compound in central Seoul. “Internal unity is crucial for this — it must be solid at the core. At the same time, however, [the party] must constantly expand its reach and strive to secure a structural majority.”

Lee noted that his administration has built upon the achievements of the previous liberal administrations of Kim Dae-jung, Roh Moo-hyun and Moon, calling for the harmonization of “unity and expansion.”

“The democratic government has become a key force responsible for the entire nation,” Lee said. “We will join forces with like-minded people to ensure no one has cause for concern, and building on that foundation, we will strive to expand toward a structural majority and consistently deliver tangible results to back that up.”

His remarks appeared to emphasize harmony and integration within the liberal DP, which suffers from growing factionalism, amidst intensifying competition in the leadership race ahead of the party’s national convention in August.

On Tuesday, Kim Min-seok formally stepped down as prime minister, seen widely as a move to enter the DP leadership race. Kim is expected to run against DP Rep. Jung Chung-rae, who stepped down as DP chief last week to seek re-election at the party’s national convention next month. Jung also met with Moon last week. Another contender for DP chief is Song Young-gil

During their talks, Moon indicated that broader national unity could only be achieved by first consolidating the DP.

Moon lauded Lee’s role in overcoming the leadership vacuum after ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol’s attempt to impose martial law in December 2024.

“Accomplishing such critical tasks, including ending internal turmoil, stabilizing the nation and restoring democracy and national prestige, in such a short time is a truly remarkable achievement,” Moon said. "The only person capable of achieving the DP's unity, broader integration with the democratic progressive bloc and national unity is President Lee.”

Moon also hailed the Lee administration’s three megaprojects seeking to build a semiconductor industrial complex in the southwestern region, with massive investment pledges by Samsung Electronics and SK hynix.

He called the initiative a "groundbreaking achievement for balanced regional development” while encouraging Lee to accelerate such policies to “ensure that regions feeling left out of these megaprojects are also accommodated fully."

Moon expressed his hopes that Lee would "exercise greater leadership and unfailingly realize the dream of becoming a ‘president for everyone.'"

Lee, in turn, credited Moon for his administration’s renewable energy industry policies in the Gwangju-Jeolla region, as well as the development of a memory chip cluster in Yongin, Gyeonggi.

Regarding inter-Korean relations, Lee stressed that the “situation is extremely difficult.” During his presidency, Moon led a peace initiative that led to a period of détente on the Korean Peninsula amid North Korea-U.S. denuclearization talks.

“When meeting with foreign leaders, I get the impression that the relationship has been damaged to the point of being truly irreparable,” Lee said, referring to the hawkish stance toward the North by the previous Yoon administration. "It seems the hostility and confrontational mindset cannot be resolved simply by putting in effort or changing stances for a year or two.”

He noted that the military tensions with the North “appear to have had a massive, detrimental impact" on inter-Korean relations.

Lee pledged to “ensure the continuous pursuit of policies for peaceful inter-Korean co-existence, building upon the foundation laid by previous democratic administrations, starting with the so-called Sunshine Policy.”

Hong Ik-pyo, presidential secretary for political affairs, said in a briefing later Wednesday that Lee emphasized that “the unity of the DP and the broader ruling bloc, along with the expansion of their political base, are not separate matters, but rather, unity is a prerequisite for expanding that base.”

Hong added that Lee and Moon “discussed the idea that a democratic administration can only succeed by achieving unity while simultaneously expanding its reach."

Moon also “pledged to do his utmost” as Lee sought his advice on how to untangle the complexities of the Korean Peninsula issue, Hong added.

Hong also said that there was a “consensus that hurting others through fake news or derogatory terms serves no one’s interests.”

Earlier, Lee welcomed Moon at the Blue House’s Nokjiwon garden with a warm embrace, marking the former president's first return to the presidential compound since his five-year term ended on May 9, 2022. It also marked the pair's first one-on-one meeting since Lee took office in early June last year, though they met several times during larger events, including Lee’s national appointment ceremony.

Lee and Moon walked through the garden together to Sangchunjae, a traditional wooden house often used by presidents to hold informal talks and meetings with dignitaries.

At the round table, out of courtesy for the former president, Lee gave up his seat, saying he’d learned from his summits abroad that this was good etiquette, and took the seat that had been reserved for Moon.

The Blue House said that the lunch menu was prepared to embody the themes of "harmony" and "unity." It featured summer health-boosting dishes centered on seafood and fish and included bibimbap, often tapped as a symbol of unity in a political context with the mixing of ingredients.

The two leaders also met at Sanchunjae in October 2021, when then-President Moon congratulated Lee on his nomination as the DP presidential candidate. Lee eventually lost to his then-People Power Party (PPP) rival Yoon Suk Yeol by the narrowest margin in Korean presidential election history. At the time, Moon’s pick as DP candidate had been his former prime minister, Lee Nak-yon.

The two leaders’ relations haven’t always been rosy, as they once competed against each other in the primaries during the presidential election in 2017 and have traditionally belonged to different factions within the liberal party.

However, during their meeting on Wednesday, the two leaders appeared to set aside their past differences for the sake of party unity.

In recent weeks, Lee has seen his approval ratings, which remained above 60 percent during his first year in office, dip below 50 percent.

The main opposition PPP criticized the luncheon meeting, calling it a "political show" aimed at restructuring power within the DP.

"This meeting, held amidst intensifying conflict between the pro-Lee and pro-Moon factions ahead of the DP national convention, is neither an occasion for national unity nor anything more than a political move designed to consolidate internal party solidarity and manage the landscape for the next party leadership,” PPP chief spokesperson Park Sung-hoon said in a statement later on Wednesday.

BY SARAH KIM [[email protected]]