Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party of Korea presidential candidate, visited Daegu, a stronghold of the conservative camp, on the 13th and said, “I said xie xie (謝謝·thank you) in Taiwan, and I said xie xie in China. Is that wrong?” The intent is to suggest not to get deeply involved in the diplomatic issues of China and Taiwan and to pursue pragmatic diplomacy. It has been about a year since he made such remarks ahead of last year's general election, which drew criticism as an 'inappropriate awareness as the leader of the first opposition party.'
On that day, the candidate spoke at a rally in Dongseongro, Daegu, saying, “I wanted to say xie xie to the Japanese ambassador, but it seemed he wouldn’t understand, so I said ‘thank you very much.’” He added, “What does politics mean other than helping the people live better lives and paving the way for the future of the Republic of Korea?” While he had refrained from related remarks out of concern over the deepening controversy regarding pro-China sentiment, he directly addressed such concerns in Daegu, a challenging area for the Democratic Party.
The candidate stated, “The ROK-U.S. alliance is important. We need to cooperate trilaterally with the U.S. and Japan. That doesn’t mean we should make enemies with other countries,” adding, “With national interests at the center, the ROK-U.S. alliance should be maintained as the ROK-U.S. alliance, and trilateral cooperation with the U.S. and Japan should proceed accordingly, while maintaining good relations with Russia and selling our goods.” He also remarked, “Looking at the people gathered here, it doesn’t seem like the old Daegu,” and said, “It seems like Daegu is revitalizing. I will gather my courage and surely win.”
Earlier, the candidate had said during a rally at the traditional market in Dangjin, Chungcheongnam-do, in March of last year, “Why should we intervene in the cross-strait issue? (In China) we can say xie xie, and we can say xie xie in Taiwan.” As the party leader in June of the same year, he received a threatening remark from Shin Haiming, the Chinese ambassador to South Korea, stating, “You will regret betting on China's defeat,” but did not refute it, leading to the controversy of 'humiliated diplomacy.' At that time, Ambassador Shin had read a prepared script in Korean while criticizing the South Korean government's diplomatic policy.