"Lee Myung-bak's term for Gwangju semiconductors?"... Jung Chung-rae under fire for repeated 'presidential misnaming' gaffes

- Misidentified 'Lee Jae-myung' as 'Lee Myung-bak' during the Democratic Party's Daegu-Gyeongbuk joint campaign speech on the 9th
- Continued speech without realizing the misnaming; Song Young-gil launches direct attack asking, "How are you supposed to understand the Lee Jae-myung administration?"
- Jung Chung-rae tries to quell controversy with "Sincere apologies, will exercise caution"; repeated the exact same slip of the tongue from last May
- Critics point out that repeated, critical verbal slips during the party convention race have invited attacks from intra-party rivals and raised questions about qualifications

Representative candidate Jung Chung-rae of the Democratic Party of Korea has officially apologized after making a gaffe during a joint campaign speech, mistakenly referring to President Lee Jae-myung as former President Lee Myung-bak. Because he has confused the two names in the past, rivals for the party leadership immediately launched a barrage of criticism, with critics pointing out that he brought unnecessary controversy over his qualifications upon himself during the convention race.

During the Daegu-Gyeongbuk joint campaign speech for party leader and Supreme Council candidates held at the Daegu Inter-Burgo Exco Hotel on the afternoon of the 9th, Candidate Jung stated while presenting his vision for the Honam semiconductor cluster, "Jung Chung-rae will ensure that semiconductor products can be released within President Lee Myung-bak's term." It was a fatal misnaming error confusing the incumbent president with a former conservative administration's president, but Candidate Jung finished his platform speech without realizing it.

rival candidates immediately went on the offensive. Candidate Song Young-gil, who took the podium next, pointed out Jung's remark and harshly criticized him, saying, "He didn't even realize he made a slip of the tongue while mentioning former President Lee Myung-bak, whose term has already ended," and asked, "Just how are you supposed to understand the Lee Jae-myung administration?"

Candidate Jung, who belatedly realized his slip of the tongue, met with reporters after the event and bowed his head, saying, "I didn't know I misnamed the president during my speech. I am truly sorry to the party members, and I will exercise caution so that such mistakes do not happen again."

However, this is not the first time Candidate Jung has 'confused the president's name.' During a campaign support event for the Gangdong-gu mayoral candidate in Seoul ahead of the June 3 local elections last May, he also shouted, "Lee Jae-myung, who went to prison for corruption and bribery," before immediately correcting it to "Lee Myung-bak." As repeated verbal gaffes are exposed on key speech stages where he needs to gather party members' votes, calls within the party demanding renewal and focus from the candidate are expected to grow.