President Moon to Receive Joint Report on Green New Deal Projects from Four Ministries Including Environment, Industry, SMEs, and Land, Infrastructure and Transport Departments
[Asia Economy Reporters Jungmin Ryu, Sunhee Son] President Moon Jae-in will receive a joint report on the 'Green New Deal' project from four ministries: the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Originally, President Moon was scheduled to receive reports from three ministries including the Ministry of Environment, but after Minister Kim Hyun-mi of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport expressed her intention to participate, the number of ministries was increased to four following discussions at the Cabinet meeting.
Kang Min-seok, the Blue House spokesperson, stated in a briefing on the afternoon of the 13th, "President Moon Jae-in will soon receive a joint report related to the Green New Deal project from four ministries. The four ministries are the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport."
President Moon emphasized to his aides that the Green New Deal is important because it can create many jobs and because the international community expects Korea to play a role. Spokesperson Kang explained, "In fact, Europe and others are placing great emphasis on the Green New Deal," adding, "In Europe, since last year, the term 'climate crisis' has been used instead of 'climate change'."
The Green New Deal emerged as a key issue during a closed-door Cabinet meeting discussion on the 12th. President Moon instructed, "Recently, the Green New Deal has become a hot topic, and there are many opinions that it should be included in the Korean New Deal. I ask the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups to consult and report in writing whether the Green New Deal can increase jobs."
Spokesperson Kang explained, "This meant that in addition to responding to climate change through greenhouse gas reduction, they should find concrete measures for creating and discovering new jobs and report on them." When President Moon instructed the three ministries to submit written reports, Minister Kim Hyun-mi requested to speak and said that the Green New Deal is also related to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. She mentioned that the Green New Deal can be implemented in various ways in transportation and construction and expressed hope that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport would also participate in preparing the written report.
Spokesperson Kang said, "After Minister Kim’s remarks, a lively debate close to a heated discussion took place at the Cabinet meeting. While it was clear that the Green New Deal is an important task our society must pursue and a core value in the post-COVID-19 era, there were opinions that the Korean New Deal, as a large framework encompassing all tasks, cannot cover all opinions and all tasks as a big umbrella."
Minister Kim emphasized that to become a world-leading country, Korea must actively respond to climate change, and while she did not ask for the Green New Deal to be fully incorporated as a flagship product of the Korean New Deal, she said it should be included to maintain balance and flow.
After listening to the Cabinet members’ discussion, President Moon said, "The Korean New Deal is not about overcoming the crisis by creating temporary jobs, but about establishing a sustainable foundation to transform into a leading economy," adding, "After hearing Minister Kim’s remarks, it seems that the Green New Deal could include smart cities and the smartization of urban administration. I ask the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to participate in submitting the written report and play an important role."
The Cabinet discussion included Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Sung Yun-mo, and Minister of SMEs and Startups Park Young-sun. Spokesperson Kang said, "President Moon plans to receive and review the Green New Deal report from the relevant ministries as early as this weekend or early next week," adding, "It has not yet been decided whether the Green New Deal project will be partially included in the Korean New Deal. President Moon’s intention is to promote it as an important task in the post-COVID-19 era."
A senior Blue House official explained, "The basic Green New Deal clearly means a low-carbon economy, and the foundation is to reduce greenhouse gases and move toward low carbon," adding, "What the President emphasized was to report specifically on how jobs can be discovered. It is an approach combining climate change response plus job creation."
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