Party chief seeks to quell ruling party-Cheong Wa Dae tensions ahead of convention bid

President Lee Jae Myung briefs reporters at Cheong Wa Dae's Chunchu Hall on Friday on the outcomes of his G7 attendance and European tour. [Yonhap]
President Lee Jae Myung briefs reporters at Cheong Wa Dae's Chunchu Hall on Friday on the outcomes of his G7 attendance and European tour. [Yonhap]

Democratic Party of Korea Chairman Jung Chung-rae has been making a concerted effort to talk up President Lee Jae Myung.

Some analysts say the move is intended to ease tensions and dispel concerns about a rift between the party and the presidential office, after growing pushback within the party against a chairman seen as clashing with the president ahead of the Aug. 17 party leadership convention.

It also appears to be a calculated step to avoid being cast as Lee's adversary — a dynamic that could take hold if Jung enters the convention race and the contest is framed as "Jung versus Lee."

At a Supreme Council meeting at the National Assembly on Friday, Jung praised the diplomatic achievements of Lee, who had just returned from the G7 summit and a European tour, calling them "world class" and saying Lee had personally demonstrated "what South Korea's national standing looks like."

Jung also cited domestic developments such as the Kospi breaking the 9,000 mark, saying, "Good things keep happening for the country because we elected the right president."

He had struck a similar note on June 15, saying Lee "is establishing himself as a world-class global leader through his diplomatic capabilities." The remarks are part of a recent pattern of publicly praising the president's record on a near-daily basis.

On Thursday, Jung attended a homecoming ceremony for Lee after the president's overseas trip — an event he joined after some back-and-forth — and greeted Lee with a deep 90-degree bow.

Jung's campaign to boost Lee's profile appears driven by a recognition that an escalating party-presidential office conflict would be damaging ahead of the August convention.

The rift surfaced publicly on June 10, when Jung said, "The people are eternal; administrations are brief" — a remark that set off alarm bells.

The comment drew an agitated response from within Cheong Wa Dae and triggered fierce backlash inside the party, particularly from factions aligned with Lee, who condemned it as a veiled threat against the president.

As calls to block Jung's candidacy began to spread, he appears to have moved to contain the fallout by publicly championing Lee.

Alongside his efforts to elevate Lee, Jung has also been sending daily signals aimed at rallying his core base of hard-line supporters.

Having previously emphasized member sovereignty through a one-member, one-vote system for party rights members, Jung on Friday revived his push to completely abolish prosecutors' supplementary investigative powers.

"The complete separation of investigation and indictment is an irreversible party position of the Democratic Party," he said. "Abolishing supplementary investigative powers entirely is only natural."

Lee signaled a different position on the issue during his own briefing on the tour's outcomes Friday, saying he would prefer that supplementary investigations be allowed "only to the absolute minimum, under strict conditions."

While leaving the matter to National Assembly deliberation, Lee reiterated that prosecutors' supplementary investigative powers remain necessary in exceptional circumstances — a stance that puts him at odds with Jung.

Lee also weighed in on the intensifying factional conflict within the party ahead of the convention, urging members not to "fight like enemies" and asking whether "competition has to turn into war." On the recent party-presidential office tensions, he said, "It may look like there is enormous conflict, but I think of it as a process of becoming better" — a remark each camp has since interpreted to its own advantage.


dingdong@heraldcorp.com