President Moon's Middle East Tour Criticism Hit Back: "Try Traveling on the Same Schedule as the President"
"This Tour's Achievements Include Expo, Defense Industry, Hydrogen, Metro, and FTA (Free Trade Agreement) Resumption"
Tak Hyun-min, Protocol Secretary at the Blue House, mentioned the critical public opinion regarding President Moon Jae-in's overseas trips. [Image source=Yonhap News]
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyun-joo] Tak Hyun-min, Protocol Secretary at the Blue House, directly responded to criticism calling President Moon Jae-in's overseas trips "tourist visits" by saying, "I sincerely hope everyone will take the same itinerary as the president at least once."
On the 24th, Secretary Tak posted on his Facebook, "I am very tired of hearing opposition parties who used to take trips like tours and some uninformed reporters who don't know the background say that any overseas trip is just tourism or a bucket list," he stated.
Earlier, President Moon visited three countries in the Arab and Middle East (Africa and Middle East) region?United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, and Egypt?for 6 nights and 8 days starting from the 15th. Regarding this, Cho Tae-yong, a member of the People Power Party and former Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, criticized on Facebook on the 22nd, calling it a "bland trip amid national turmoil."
Secretary Tak explained, "A diplomatic trip is not just about going to meet the heads of state and returning. You must be familiar with all planned schedules, know the people attending the events, and study the topics to be discussed in advance. For some time now, to save time, we have departed on weekends or Sundays, and the pre-visit to the UAE involved taking flights close to midnight, arriving early morning, proceeding with the schedule, and then repeating the return flight at midnight," he said.
He continued, "The achievements of this trip can be summarized with keywords such as Expo, defense industry, hydrogen, metro, and resumption of FTA (Free Trade Agreement), and can be evaluated by actual contracts worth several trillion won. However, what is equally important is that countries invited the president with about 100 days left in his term and sought important meetings and dialogues," he emphasized.
President Moon Jae-in, who completed a tour of three Middle Eastern countries including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, is seen waving his hand while boarding Air Force One at Cairo International Airport in Egypt on the 21st (local time) with First Lady Kim Jung-sook. [Image source=Yonhap News]
Regarding criticism from the opposition, Secretary Tak said, "Unlike those so-called diplomatic experts in the opposition who used to take trips during easier times and just carried out official schedules smoothly and spent leftover time sightseeing, this is not that kind of trip. Nowadays, the press corps accompanying the president no longer have the leisure to roam freely after covering scheduled events like reporters in the past. All staff members are not allowed to leave the hotel outside of scheduled times, meals are provided as packed lunches, and everyone from ministers to junior officials pays for their own lunch without exception," he said.
Secretary Tak also said, "I hope those who think the president just went on a leisure trip after every overseas visit will discuss their similar personal experiences among themselves."
Finally, Secretary Tak said, "Our (probably) last overseas trip will end like this. I deeply thank all the public and private officials who prepared every trip together," and added, "I also want to thank the overseas citizens who, without being asked, held the Taegeukgi flag outside the control lines in so many countries and places, waiting to meet the president and the Republic of Korea, cheering and feeling proud."
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