President Lee Jae-myung on the 18th said to the political sphere, "Even if parties or camps are different, and even if they were rivals who engaged in fierce competition, the responsibility as partners who shoulder a shared duty for the people and the nation is no different." He also said, "Rather than political strife that ignores people's lives and pits sides against each other, it is time for everyone to join hands to build an irreplaceable Republic of Korea."
At this occasion, the president did not mention any specific issue. However, it appears to express concern about the severe division the Democratic Party of Korea experienced while holding the Aug. 17 party convention, and the continuing infighting among party members even after the election of leader Kim Min-seok.
At a Cabinet meeting that morning, the president said, "We must consistently listen to the voices of the sovereign people and make steady efforts to honor the public will by seeking greater common ground rather than small differences." The president also said, "People can have different opinions and there can be conflicts," and added, "In the big picture, all of us are a community of common destiny that must pool our strength for better lives for the people and a better future for the nation."
The president continued, "Among people, homogeneity and heterogeneity coexist," and said, "If you start looking for differences, they grow endlessly; if you start looking for similarities, you draw endlessly closer." The president added, "I ask all in the political sphere, who exercise the people's rights on their behalf, to work closely together to improve people's lives, to carry out unceasing reforms that end unfairness and abnormalities, and to realize a globally super-gap powerhouse."
The previous day, the Democratic Party elected former Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, who served as the first prime minister under the Lee Jae-myung administration, as its new party leader. Kim did not win a majority in the combined results of delegate and dues-paying member votes and a public opinion poll, but became party leader under the preferential voting system. However, in the supreme council election, Rep. Choi Min-hee of the pro-"Jung Chung-rae" camp won the most votes to become the senior supreme council member, and even Reps. Lee Seong-yoon and Han Min-soo—candidates from the so-called "Team Jung Chung-rae"—were elected to the supreme council.