Former Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo / Korea Times file
President Lee Jae Myung appears to be broadening his appeal to conservative voters ahead of the June 3 local elections, recently hosting a luncheon with Hong Joon-pyo, a key conservative politician.
Hong has been a high-profile, right-leaning politician, most recently serving as the mayor of Daegu, a longstanding conservative stronghold, from July 2022 to April 2025.
Cheong Wa Dae described the luncheon on Friday as being held “in the interest of national unity,” referring to a deepening political divide between conservatives and liberals.
Nevertheless, political sources reckon that the meeting carries broader implications, considering Hong left the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) last year.
With just over 40 days remaining until the local elections, Hong also publicly endorsed former Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum, the ruling Democratic Party of Korea’s candidate for Daegu mayor.
“Under the circumstances, Friday’s luncheon clearly signals Lee's intent to expand toward centrist and conservative voters,” Park Sang-byung, a political commentator, said Sunday.
Shin Yul, a political science professor at Myongji University, echoed a similar view, saying, “The president, dating back to the 2025 presidential election campaign, has been making such approach to embrace conservatives.”
The professor noted that Lee has been wooing conservative-leaning figures — a move sometimes criticized as inconsistency or a retreat from reform, but credited with expanding his support base into the political center.
For instance, Lee invited conservative commentators Jung Kyu-jae and Cho Gap-je to the presidential office for lunch, once nominated former PPP lawmaker Lee Hye-hoon as a ministerial candidate and appointed former centrist Bareunmirae Party lawmaker Kim Sung-sik as vice chair of the National Economic Advisory Council.
Source: Korea Times News
