Park Suhyeon: "President Lee Asked Jung Cheongrae, 'Are You Anti-Myung?'... About 5% Was Sincere"

Joke Eases Tension at Dinner Meeting
Points Out Media Framing and Internal Party Circumstances
Core Message: "These Things Should Be Corrected"

Park Suhyeon, Chief Spokesperson of the Democratic Party of Korea, commented on January 21 regarding his remark to Democratic Party leader Jung Cheongrae, "Are you perhaps anti-Myung?" He said, "I think about 5% of it was sincere." While the comment was largely intended as a joke to break the awkward atmosphere, he admitted that there was a slight element of sincerity mixed in.

In an interview with SBS Radio that day, Chief Spokesperson Park mentioned the conversation that took place during a dinner between President Lee and the Democratic Party leadership. He stated, "About 95% of it was a considerate joke from the President to ease the tension and awkwardness, especially since some of the leadership were newly elected. However, upon reviewing the details for the briefing, I felt there was also some sincerity behind it."

Yonhap News Agency

Chief Spokesperson Park further explained, "At that time, President Lee said, 'The media often mentions terms like anti-Myung and Myung-Cheong rivalry. Are any of you here anti-Myung? Of course, that's unlikely.' He then added humorously, 'Who knows? Since this is a party, there might be pro-Cheong or anti-Cheong factions centered around the party leader.' This made everyone burst into laughter. He continued, 'But shouldn't these things be corrected?' Regarding the interpretation, he said, 'Ninety-five percent of it was a considerate joke, but 5% reflected the intentional framing by the media and the internal circumstances of the party that force the media to write such things. Therefore, I believe the core message is, "Shouldn't these things be corrected?"'

Additionally, Chief Spokesperson Park addressed the amendment to the party constitution for a one-person, one-vote system being promoted by Leader Jung, stating, "It makes no sense to interpret this as a power struggle or disagreement over the next party leadership. It is a process to create a better system."