President Lee Jae-myung will have lunch with Democratic Party of Korea lawmakers at Cheong Wa Dae on the 28th. Following a dinner with the party's new leadership, including leader Kim Min-seok, on the 25th, this will be a meeting with all ruling-party lawmakers to call for party–presidential office cooperation in the second year of the administration. All affiliated lawmakers, including those who lost in the supreme council member race, will be invited.
Kang Yu-jung, senior presidential spokesperson, said on the 22nd that President Lee plans to invite lawmakers to a luncheon at the State Guest House at Cheong Wa Dae next week, following the new Democratic Party leadership. On the 19th, the president also invited lawmakers Jung Chung-rae and Song Young-gil, who had competed with leader Kim for party control, to Cheong Wa Dae for a dinner that lasted five hours. The late-night dinner reportedly included exchanges such as "Sorry for the excessive remarks" and "Let's clear up the misunderstandings."
These schedules came together as the Democratic Party split along a "pro-Myung vs. pro-Cheong" fault line during the Aug. 17 party convention, with infighting intensifying among supporters and even lawmakers. At the supreme council meeting held right after the leadership election, three so-called pro-Cheong supreme council members openly defied the party leader over the issue of selecting appointed supreme council members.
Conflicts among party members and supporter groups remain. Some members even recruited participants for a one-night, two-day workshop on the condition of being "No-sa-mo," "Team Jung Chung-rae," "Supporters of Choi Min-hee, Han Min-su, and Lee Seong-yun," or "Al-jeong-jjik (I ended up voting for Jung Chung-rae)." Inside the party, some said this was "proof that there is no psychological cohesion between pro-Myung and pro-Cheong supporters."
◇ After the convention, Cheong Wa Dae speeds up personnel vetting for a mid-range Cabinet shake-up
Meanwhile, Cheong Wa Dae is reportedly conducting personnel vetting for a Cabinet reshuffle. After the convention, this could refresh the overall tone of state affairs and give Cheong Wa Dae a chance to regain the political center of gravity that had been dispersed by ruling-party infighting. Considering the regular National Assembly session next month and the National Assembly inspection in Oct., the vetting is said to be moving quickly.
Since Prime Minister Han Seong-sook took office last month, the post of Minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups has been vacant, and, in addition to Justice Minister Jung Sung-ho, who submitted a resignation letter, the real estate and finance ministries—cited as causes of the "approval rating decline"—are also being mentioned as targets for a reshuffle. Cheong Wa Dae is also said to be preparing to fill staff positions, including the AI future planning senior secretary, which has been vacant since former senior secretary Ha Jung-woo ran in the local elections.
A key ruling-party official said, "Given the president's style, the personnel vetting is done very meticulously," adding, "There are the regular session of the National Assembly and the inspection, but apart from that, we will scrutinize the vetting in detail to avoid personnel problems as much as possible."