President Lee Jae-myung met with the new leadership of the Democratic Party of Korea on the 25th and urged them to "move beyond small differences among ourselves and sprint toward building the great Republic of Korea that the people have entrusted to us." The party leadership responded by pledging close cooperation on livelihood and reform bills and on next year's budget.
Lee invited the ruling party's new leadership, including Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok, to Cheong Wa Dae for dinner that day. Attending from the party were Kim, floor leader Han Byung-do, Supreme Council members Choi Min-hee, Park Sun-won, Seo Mi-hwa, Lee Sung-yoon and Han Min-soo, Secretary-General Han Jeoung-ae and Policy Committee Chairman Kwon Chil-seung. From the presidential office, Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik and Senior Presidential Secretary for Political Affairs Hong Ihk-pyo were present.
At the gathering, Lee stressed unity within the newly launched leadership and a "one team" spirit between the party and the presidential office. "However large the differences may be among us, they are not as large as the differences with the opponents we must overcome," he said. "Even twins born of the same womb differ from each other. If we start looking for differences, we will end up on the path of enemies; if we find what we have in common, we will become brothers who care for one another." The remarks were read as a call for reconciliation among the leadership, following intensified factional conflict within the party during the recent national convention.
Lee also asked the party, the government and the presidential office to work together in addressing livelihood issues. "In carrying out policy, what the party, the government or the presidential office can accomplish unilaterally on its own is very limited," he said. "I hope the Democratic Party, the government and the presidential office will join forces to faithfully carry out the role the people have entrusted to us, and make the people feel a better life and a better future for the Republic of Korea."
Kim said it was "a time when the party must fully demonstrate its capabilities and support the president so that his management of state affairs goes well," adding, "We will be a leadership that clearly does its job well, so that the president has nothing to worry about." He also said, "The Supreme Council is already naturally aligning itself toward debating internally what needs to be debated while focusing its external messaging on the direction of state affairs and on resolving problems that have gone wrong." Lee and the leadership raised a toast with the words "We are one. Go, Democratic Party," Democratic Party chief spokesman Park Seong-jun said.
Specific livelihood issues were also discussed at the dinner, according to sources. A proposed overhaul of real estate taxation, the biggest pending issue between the party and the government, appears to have been on the agenda.
Earlier that day, at a Cabinet meeting, Lee called for reform that produces actual results rather than reform that emphasizes ideological clarity. "When you pursue reform by raising your voice and setting a clear, lofty goal, it is easy to win praise, but the resistance and backlash also grow too large," he said. "Then the goal becomes hard to achieve, and the sacrifices grow as well." Lee will continue his "dining table politics" on the 28th, inviting all Democratic Party lawmakers to the guest house at Cheong Wa Dae.
