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Lee Hae-chan, the newly appointed the leader of the Democratic Party, gives his acceptance speech on Aug. 25 after winning the vote at the Democratic Party’s national convention in Seoul. (Shin So-young, staff reporter)
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Reveals plans during phone call to new leader of Democratic Party Lee Hae-chan
On Aug. 26, South Korean President Moon Jae-in made a congratulatory phone call to Lee Hae-chan, the new leader of the Democratic Party, and said that “deliberations are underway” on a plan for ruling and opposition lawmakers to join Moon at the next inter-Korean summit. Democratic Party spokesperson Kim Hyeon reported that Moon and Lee had had a 10-minute phone call at 2:20 pm on Sunday. “The long primary process must have been difficult, but I’m glad that you stayed the course and won the race. Given our long relationship, I think that the Democratic Party and the Blue House will get along just fine,” Moon said during the phone call. Moon also brought up the fact that Lee had resigned as head of the Democratic United Party after the failure of his push to combine Moon’s bid for the presidency with Ahn Cheol-soo’s in 2012. “The biggest reason for our defeat in the 2012 presidential election was that you quit in the middle,” Moon was quoted as saying. Moon made a particular appeal for the Democratic Party to work with him on inter-Korean relations. “Deliberations are underway on a plan for the ruling and opposition party members to join me at the inter-Korean summit [in Pyongyang in September],” Moon said. “I’m going to need a lot of help from the Democratic Party with legislation. Before long, I’ll have the party leadership over for a meal. I’ll be doing the same with the leaders of other parties. Moving forward, the Blue House will be making an effort to facilitate communication with the parties.” Lee thanked Moon for his congratulatory phone call and said that he would “work to forge closer ties among the party, the government and the Blue House,” Kim related. Kim also reported Lee’s response to Moon’s request about inter-Korean relations: “I hope you’ll work on having a lot of ruling and opposition lawmakers accompany you on your visit to North Korea. The party will be working toward that end, too.” “When you meet [North Korean leader] Kim Jong-un during the inter-Korean summit, I hope you’ll ask him to actively engage in dialogue with the US so that the two sides’ relations can go more smoothly,” Lee was also quoted as saying. By Seo Young-ji, staff reporter Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
