Lee Yeon-hee, the strategic planning committee chair of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, said Sunday that efforts to recruit Ha Jung-woo, the Presidential Office's senior secretary for AI and future planning, have "crossed the 80 percent mark."
The Democratic Party hopes Ha will run in the by-election for the Busan Buk-gap parliamentary seat, which will become vacant after Rep. Jeon Jae-su launches his Busan mayoral campaign. However, President Lee Jae-myung has publicly expressed reservations about the move.
"I understand the President is deeply conflicted because Ha is an essential talent for his administration," Lee said during an appearance on KBS's "Sunday Diagnosis Live." "But we've crossed the 80 percent mark."
She added that senior lawmakers have met with Ha multiple times to make their pitch, and Secretary General Cho Seung-rae has also met with him. "He was firmly opposed at first, but the party has done extensive persuading, and he has come around to accepting," she said. "Party leader Chung Chung-rae also plans to meet with him next week to make a strong personal appeal."
Regarding former Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum's strong polling numbers in the Daegu mayoral race, Lee said, "The atmosphere shown in pre-election polls can shift if someone like former President Park Geun-hye makes an appearance. We shouldn't get caught up in every poll result. The most important task is to sincerely appeal to Daegu citizens for change."
On the controversy sparked by the party's directive prohibiting the use of President Lee Jae-myung's pre-inauguration photos and videos in campaign materials for the June 3 local elections, Lee dismissed suggestions of internal conflict.
"There is no conflict between the President and the party. There is no such thing as a 'pro-Presidential Office faction,'" she emphasized. "The problem was that the official memo was worded too harshly, so the whole thing ended as a mishap. The party is centered on the President, and the party, government, and Presidential Office are one team."
She also pushed back against characterizations of factional strife, saying, "There is competition over party leadership ahead of the party convention, but calling that a conflict between the President and the party is an exaggeration."