President Lee Jae-myung and Democratic Party of Korea leader Jung Chung-rae were seen in a tug of war over Presidential Office Senior Secretary for AI Future Planning Ha Jung-woo. On the same day, President Lee said, "Stay at the Blue House," while Jung said that Ha is "someone the party needs." In political circles, some said it might be "tiki-taka" to raise Ha's value.
On the morning of the 9th at the first plenary session of the National Economic Advisory Council held at the Blue House, President Lee, while speaking on the direction of national research and development (R&D), said, "Our 'HaGPT' (a nickname combining Senior Secretary Ha and ChatGPT) has a lot to do these days, and it seems someone is trying to recruit him," adding, "You shouldn't just go because someone makes a move." Senior Secretary Ha replied, "I will focus on my work."
Recently, Ha has been mentioned as a possible candidate in the Busan Buk-gu Gap by-election for the National Assembly. The district is expected to hold a by-election because lawmaker Chun Jae-soo is running for Busan mayor. Party leader Jung Chung-rae even said to reporters the previous day that he would "make three respectful visits" to bring Ha in.
Jung struck the same tone that day. After finishing a visit to a livelihood site in Yeosu, South Jeolla, Jung met with reporters and, upon hearing President Lee's remarks, said, "I will also speak jokingly," adding, "If someone has such precious value, why wouldn't the party ask for him?" He continued, "That means Senior Secretary Ha is the right person to show the public hope and a vision for the future, and the party needs him all the more."
The political world offered varying interpretations of the remarks by President Lee and Jung that day. One view is that President Lee does not want Ha to be drafted into the by-election. Because Ha oversees the president's core governing agenda of "AI," some said President Lee put the brakes on Ha running. In that case, it is also possible the Blue House and the party are not coordinating properly in advance on by-election candidates.
Others said the president brought it up on purpose to raise Ha's value. As the party is strongly pushing to draft Ha and a heavyweight from the opposition could emerge as a rival in Busan Buk-gu Gap, some interpreted the president's remarks as an intentional "shout-out" to boost Ha's worth.
A Democratic Party official said, "If you look at the president's and Jung's remarks positively, you could say they worked in concert to elevate Senior Secretary Ha; looked at differently, you could say the party and the Blue House traded words to pull Ha to their side," adding, "Either way, with the president and the party leader mentioning him at the same time, it seems hard for Ha not to run in the by-election."