Lee Jae-myung's Negotiation Group Speech... Growth Tripled, Hope and Democracy Doubled

Analysis of Key Keywords in the National Assembly Negotiating Group Leader's Speech
'Growth' Mentioned 28 Times, 'Labor' 19 Times, 'AI' 17 Times
'Economy' 15 Times: Shift from Criticizing Yoon's Mismanagement to Emphasizing Recovery

The recent rightward shift in the actions of Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea preparing for an early presidential election, was clearly evident in his speech as the leader of the negotiating group. During his remarks, Lee repeatedly emphasized 'growth' nearly 30 times. By putting the conservative camp's core agenda of 'economy' and 'growth' at the forefront, he laid out a blueprint for his early election campaign. Unlike his 21st National Assembly speech, where he criticized the Yoon Seok-youl administration's mismanagement and focused on ideological confrontation, this time he prioritized pragmatism and actively sought to embrace centrist and undecided voters.

In the negotiating group leader's speech at the National Assembly on the 10th, Lee mentioned 'growth' 28 times, making it the most frequently used keyword. This is about 2.5 times the 11 mentions in his 2022 National Assembly speech. He emphasized that "'Recovery and growth' are necessary conditions for a better tomorrow." By elevating growth as a core agenda, he expressed his ambition to realize his new vision of 'Jalsanism' through economic recovery. He has broken the conventional notion that 'economy belongs to conservatives, distribution to progressives,' and has positioned himself as a 'pragmatist leaning toward conservatism.'

It is also noteworthy that after growth, he focused heavily on labor (19 times) and artificial intelligence (AI, 17 times). While advocating the black cat-white cat theory by saying, "What use is ideology in reviving the economy?" he devoted considerable attention to maintaining the party's traditional values on 'labor,' which had been diluted by his rightward shift. This is closely related to his recent designation of AI as a future core technology for growth-centered policies. He stated, "A strong government drive is needed for the AI revolution," and showed openness to thoroughly reviewing exceptions to the 52-hour workweek rule in the semiconductor sector.

Lee's progressive stance on labor hour flexibility in specific sectors has raised concerns within the party and labor circles. Seemingly aware of such criticism, he clearly stated, "Even if labor hours are made flexible in certain areas due to special needs, it should not become a means to extend total working hours or evade labor compensation."

The keyword 'economy' was mentioned 15 times, a decrease compared to June 2023 (33 times) and September 2022 (21 times). However, its character changed. While previous speeches focused on economic deterioration due to government mismanagement, this speech concentrated on a firm determination to revive the economy. Mentions of 'recovery' (12 times) and 'hope' (8 times) also increased. Lee said, "(Due to martial law) the already difficult lives of the people have been pushed to the brink," and pledged to "restore the nation's dignity and trust, economy and livelihood, peace and democracy."

'Democracy' was mentioned 11 times, a significant increase compared to 4 times in 2023 and 2 times in 2022. In 2023, he focused on how "the Yoon Seok-youl regime wields absolute power as if living only for today, suffocating democracy," emphasizing the administration's destruction of the 'separation of powers' through power. This year, he used the term to criticize the martial law situation caused by the Yoon administration, stating, "The loyal military coup driven by lust for power is destroying the democracy and constitutional order that the entire nation fought hard to achieve."

Experts analyzed that Lee's remarks aim to expand support among centrist voters. Political commentator Park Sang-byeong said, "The parts where he mentioned 'growth' indicate the policy direction the Democratic Party government would pursue if he becomes president," and added, "It can be seen as a clear declaration of intent to strengthen the centrist base." Choi Byung-cheon, director of the New Growth Economy Research Institute, said, "It is true that the intention is to expand the support base," and added, "To extend support to the centrist group, three policies?pragmatism, expansion of forces, and personnel changes?must be pursued together."