Former Democratic Party of Korea leader Rep. Jung Chung-rae, who is running for a second term, mistakenly referred to President Lee Jae Myung as "President Lee Myung-bak" during a joint campaign event in Daegu on Sunday, repeating a similar mix-up he made during the June 3 local election campaign.
"I will make sure the Gwangju semiconductor cluster proceeds without a hitch so that semiconductor products can be released within President Lee Myung-bak's term," Jung said during a joint speech session for the party primaries at Hotel Inter-Burgo Exco in Buk-gu, Daegu.
He had apparently meant to say Lee Jae Myung but mentioned the former conservative president instead.
Fellow leadership candidate Rep. Song Young-gil later pointed out the mistake in his speech.
"Jung made a slip of the tongue, saying he would complete the semiconductor cluster in Honam within the Lee Myung-bak administration's term," Song said. "Lee Myung-bak's term is already over. He didn't even realize he made a mistake."
Speaking to reporters after the event, Jung apologized for the mistake.
"I didn't realize it at the time, but it seems I got the president's name wrong during my speech," Jung said. "I apologize to the party members."
This is the second instance Jung has mixed up the names of Lee Jae Myung and Lee Myung-bak.
During campaigning for the June 3 local elections in May, Jung made similar slip ups during an endorsement campaign for Democratic Party candidate Kim Jong-mu in Seoul's Gangdong-gu.
"Park Geun-hye, who went to prison over the influence-peddling scandal and the public's candlelight rallies, and Lee Jae Myung, who went to prison for corruption," said Jung, who was party leader at the time.
In the same campaign speech, he again mixed up the two names.
"Don't you think President Lee Jae Myung works much better, is much cleaner and handles diplomacy much better than Yoon Suk Yeol, Park Geun-hye and Lee Jae Myung, those three former presidents, put together?" Jung said, again referring to Lee Myung-bak as Lee Jae Myung.
shwang9@heraldcorp.com