President Lee Jae Myung Hosts Four-Hour Dinner with Recently Discharged Former Party Leader Jung Cheong-rae: "Consensus on Party Matters"

[Financial News] President Lee Jae Myung had dinner at Cheong Wa Dae on the 1st with former Democratic Party of Korea leader Jung Cheong-rae, who had recently been discharged from the hospital, to discuss state affairs and party matters.
Kang Yoo-jung, senior press secretary at Cheong Wa Dae, announced this in a notice on the same day. Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik, who had offered his resignation, also attended the dinner.
Kang Yoo-jung said, "President Lee Jae Myung and former leader Jung Cheong-rae had a candid conversation for four hours about various state and party matters and reached a deep consensus." Specific details of their conversation were not disclosed.
Jung Cheong-rae was hospitalized after visiting an emergency room on the 16th of last month with severe chills and a fever. After being discharged on the 23rd of last month, he also visited Mangwon Market in Mapo District, Seoul, which is located in his constituency.
Earlier, on the 21st of last month, President Lee directly called Jung Cheong-rae, who was hospitalized at the time, to ask how he was doing before leaving to attend the UN General Assembly and visit Mexico.
Meanwhile, President Lee directly rebutted opposition to the appointment of Kim Ji-yong as nominee to head the Serious Crime Investigation Agency, seeking to persuade his supporters. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, President Lee wrote, "During the consultation process, Kim Ji-yong was judged to be the most suitable among the four nominees," adding, "If we were to reject them all just because they are prosecutors or former prosecutors, Assembly member Park Eun-jung, Chief Prosecutor Lim Eun-jung, and Assembly member Lee Sung-yoon are all prosecutors or former prosecutors. What would become of them?"
Cheong Wa Dae also said it would maintain Kim's appointment after additional vetting. Sung Ki-hong, senior secretary for public relations and communications, said at a briefing that "following additional vetting, nothing has changed from the initial verification results" and added, "We plan to send the request for a confirmation hearing on Kim Ji-yong, nominee to head the Serious Crime Investigation Agency, to the National Assembly in the near future."

[email protected] Seong Seok-woo Reporter