President Lee Jae-myung and first lady Kim Hye-kyung sing a commemorative song with attendees at the ceremony marking the 76th anniversary of the Korean War held at the Suwon Convention Center on the 25th. Yonhap News
President Lee Jae-myung will hold a luncheon with former President Moon Jae-in at the Blue House on July 1. It will be the first one-on-one meeting between the two since Lee took office. Observers say the meeting will both bolster the Lee administration as it enters its second year and deliver a “unity message” to ease factional tensions that have surfaced ahead of the Democratic Party’s national convention.
“They will have a luncheon together at the Blue House at 11:30 a.m. on July 1,” Kang Yu-jung, senior presidential spokesperson, said at a briefing at the Chunchugwan press center Wednesday. Since Moon’s wife, former first lady Kim Jung-sook, will not attend due to an overseas schedule, first lady Kim Hye-kyung is also not expected to join the luncheon.
The meeting is expected to cover a wide range of issues surrounding state and party affairs. In particular, analysts say it will serve as an occasion to confirm a commitment to party unity, at a time when subtle tensions persist between the pro-Lee and pro-Moon factions as the Democratic Party’s convention gets into full swing.
In political circles, some analysts say that Chung Chung-rai, former Democratic Party leader, visiting Moon the previous day as his first public schedule after stepping down as party leader served as a catalyst to move up the timing of the meeting between the current and former presidents. “The hasty scheduling of the meeting appears to carry the message of not dragging a former president into the convention,” one ruling bloc official said.
Moon’s side has also made clear its position of keeping a distance from the convention. Rep. Yoon Kun-young, considered one of Moon’s closest aides, said in a radio interview that day that, regarding requests from leadership contenders to visit Pyeongsan Village in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province, Moon had conveyed his intention to “see them after the convention.” Yoon explained, “The aim is to push all schedules to after the convention to prevent unnecessary back-and-forth and misunderstandings.”
Regarding Chung meeting Moon at the Seoul International Book Fair venue the previous day, Yoon said, “I don’t know why he came in such a hurry, or whether there was no prior contact,” adding, “Only former leader Chung would know that.”
Seo Yong-ju, head of the Mac Politics and Society Research Institute, said, “Through this meeting, the situation that appears as the so-called ‘Lee-Moon conflict’ or factional confrontation can be eased.”
Meanwhile, Lee attended a ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of the Korean War held in Suwon that day, where he said, “With a strong national defense, we will surely create a peaceful Korean Peninsula where there is no fear of war breaking out and no need to fight.” He then expressed his gratitude at a reception for those who rendered distinguished service, saying, “It is thanks to the sacrifice and dedication of the war veterans that we have become a country recognized worldwide in all fields, including the defense and high-tech industries.”