Lee Jae-myung, with his first move, embraces a 'unification message'… pays tribute at the graves of Syngman Rhee and Park Chung-hee
Lee Jae-myung, the candidate for the 21st presidential election from the Democratic Party, has begun his first official schedule with a bold 'unification move'.
According to the Democratic Party on the 28th, Candidate Lee is scheduled to visit the National Cemetery in Dongjak-gu, Seoul, at 9 AM that day to pay respects at the graves of former Presidents Syngman Rhee, Park Chung-hee, Kim Young-sam, and Kim Dae-jung.
The question of whether to pay respects to former Presidents Syngman Rhee and Park Chung-hee has been a contentious issue within the Democratic Party, making Lee's decision carry significant political weight.
Since Candidate Lee presented national unity as the top priority in his acceptance speech, it is interpreted as a demonstration of his willingness to embrace the conservative camp rather than avoid it as he makes his starting move.
Furthermore, by highlighting a flexible image unbound by ideology, it is seen as a strategic step aimed at encompassing the centrist and conservative voters in the upcoming election.
'A historically high' approval rating, fully launching expansion strategy for the main election
On this day, during the Democratic Party primary, Candidate Lee recorded an approval rate of nearly 90%, proving the unity of his support base. Based on this, there are analyses that he is accelerating the expansion of his outreach to enhance his competitiveness in the main election.
In his acceptance speech, he emphasized, "There is no time to repeat division and conflict tied to the past, ideology, thoughts, or factions," and that "in the era of super science and technology centered on artificial intelligence (AI), the ideologies or emotions we carry are trivial and insignificant."
He further promised, "I will work to ensure that the people can look forward to a path of unification rather than division or confrontation in the future," suggesting that he will actively pursue the theme of unification.
Strengthening the 'pragmatism' stance… visiting the AI and semiconductor fields
Simultaneously with his unification efforts, Candidate Lee is shifting his focus to economic activities. On the afternoon of the 28th, he plans to visit the SK Hynix campus in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, to hold a conference on 'AI (artificial intelligence) memory semiconductors'.
This follows his visit to the AI semiconductor design startup 'Puriosa AI' shortly after declaring his candidacy in the party primaries and is interpreted as a continuation of his 'pragmatism' focus on advanced industries in the economic sphere.
Unlike previous elections where he prominently advocated for redistribution policies like basic income, this election sees a clearer intent to broaden his support base by emphasizing growth and pragmatism through concepts like 'well-being-ism' and 'eating-ism'.
An official from Lee's camp stated, "There is a high likelihood that economic schedules focusing on advanced industries such as AI and semiconductors will increase in the future."
Image source: News1
