President Lee Jae-myung and former President Moon Jae-in will hold a luncheon meeting Tuesday. With so-called pro-Lee and pro-Moon tensions rising ahead of the party convention in August, the meeting between the sitting and former presidents is being viewed as a symbol of "unity" in itself.
The Blue House said the luncheon menu was also "composed by adding dishes symbolizing 'harmony' and 'unity,' which the sitting and former presidents have always emphasized." It explained that the menu was based on summer restorative food prepared especially for former President Moon, who likes seafood and fish.
The Blue House selected traditional confectionery such as candied apple and candied pear, along with jujube tea, for the pre-meal tea gathering, and will present poached egg with vegetables as the first course of the luncheon. According to the Blue House, the dish was chosen for former President Moon, who likes seafood, and for President Lee, whose hometown is Andong. As summer restorative food, the menu features mung bean and ginseng chicken porridge using native chicken and ginseng, a jeon set combining John Dory—a seasonal summer fish from the South Sea—and cabbage pancakes on one plate, and grilled braised Korean beef short ribs, followed by bibimbap and croaker soup as the main courses.
The Blue House added that bibimbap is a symbol of unity. It said assorted rice cakes and fruit punch are also desserts carrying the meaning of unity and harmony, in which diverse flavors blend together, paying attention to a "unity and harmony" message in each dish. The Blue House added that the fruit punch was a menu prepared in remembrance of 2017, when First Lady Kim Jung-sook used fallen fruit from flood-damaged areas to serve Blue House staff and reporters.
At the meeting held at the Blue House, the sitting and former presidents are expected to discuss a wide range of issues surrounding state affairs and party management. In particular, with the Democratic Party convention getting into full swing and subtle tension continuing between the pro-Lee and pro-Moon factions, the dominant interpretation is that the meeting will serve as an occasion to confirm the will for unity within the party.
In political circles, some analysts suggest that former Democratic Party leader Jung Chung-rae's recent visit to former President Moon—his first public event after resigning as party leader—served as a catalyst for moving up the timing of the meeting between the sitting and former presidents. A ruling bloc official said, "The fact that the meeting schedule was arranged in a hurry appears to carry the message of not dragging the former president into the party convention."
The side of former President Moon has also made clear its position of keeping its distance from the party convention. Rep. Yoon Kun-young, considered one of Moon's closest aides, said in a recent radio interview that, regarding requests from party leadership contenders to visit Pyeongsan Village in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province, former President Moon expressed his intention to "meet after the convention." Rep. Yoon explained, "The plan is to postpone all schedules until after the convention to prevent unnecessary back-and-forth and misunderstandings."
Rep. Yoon also wrote on social media the previous day, "I earnestly hope that the meeting between the two will become an opportunity to break through the current situation," adding, "I remember the experience of past times when the party overcame a crisis through a meeting between the two."
