Cabinet Members Meeting... Urging 'Establishment of Public Service Discipline and Election Neutrality' at End of Term
[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Son Sun-hee] With about six months remaining in the Moon Jae-in administration, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum emphasized the importance of a "One team" approach to the cabinet and urged a stable conclusion to government operations. He called for the cabinet to focus its capabilities on responding to COVID-19 and repeatedly stressed the neutrality of public officials in the upcoming presidential election. In addition, he plans to actively carry out inspection activities to establish public service discipline during the year-end and New Year period.
According to the Office for Government Policy Coordination on the 29th, Prime Minister Kim chaired a meeting with cabinet members at the Prime Minister’s official residence in Jongno-gu, Seoul, the previous afternoon and conveyed these requests to the attendees. The meeting was attended by 17 cabinet members including Deputy Prime Minister for Economy Hong Nam-ki and Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs Yoo Eun-hye, as well as seven heads of central administrative agencies at the ministerial level. Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong was absent due to an overseas trip.
Prime Minister Kim said, "In the full-fledged election phase, it is essential to manage government affairs flawlessly during the remaining term so that the achievements of the Moon Jae-in administration are properly evaluated and passed on to future generations," adding, "Let the cabinet unite as one team and do our best until the end to overcome the quarantine crisis and resolve livelihood issues."
Following this, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Hong shared the status of the National Assembly’s budget review and said, "During the remaining review period, the financial authorities and each ministry will closely cooperate to ensure that budgets related to key tasks and livelihood issues are reflected as much as possible." With the statutory deadline for passing next year’s budget bill (December 2) just three days away, the National Assembly is continuing its final review. Relatedly, Office for Government Policy Coordination Chief Koo Yoon-chul presented a report to check the review status of key bills that need to be processed during this regular session of the National Assembly.
During the subsequent open discussion, responses to current issues such as COVID-19 quarantine and the conclusion of government affairs were discussed. In particular, with the emergence of the new COVID-19 variant "Omicron" and the recent increase in critically ill patients domestically, the entire cabinet decided to concentrate its capabilities on quarantine management.
Prime Minister Kim especially urged strict "election neutrality" ahead of the presidential election in March next year and the local elections in June. The government announced plans to soon establish "report centers" to collect information on various election neutrality violations and respond thoroughly. Having already provided the four major party presidential candidates with "major policy implementation status and future tasks," the government intends to respond cautiously to future requests for information from the political sphere.
The Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety will also actively conduct inspection activities to establish public service discipline during the year-end and New Year period and the government transition period.
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