President Yoon: "Think Hard About Inflation Measures... Communicate Until the Soles of Your Shoes Wear Out" (Comprehensive)

Yoon Chairs First Chief Secretary Meeting
"Security Situation Is Tough... Request to Study Impact of N. Korea's Nuclear Test in Detail"
Emphasizes Compensation for Small Business Owners Affected by COVID-19... "Must Be Executed Promptly"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] On the second day of his inauguration, President Yoon Suk-yeol urged his aides, "The economy is difficult right now. Please consider suppression measures according to the causes of inflation and pay attention to the soaring international raw material prices." He also emphasized the need for his aides to communicate organically with each other to create efficient policies, saying, "You really have to wear out the soles of your shoes."

At 9:10 a.m. on the 11th, President Yoon presided over the first Chief Secretary meeting and said, "The difficult economic situation does not temporarily ease just because the administration changes, and the people are always struggling with such hardships that bend their backs. In this situation, we must carefully examine various economic indicators and continuously consider the causes of inflation and suppression measures according to those causes."

He added, "International raw material prices are fluctuating now. Due to the Ukraine situation, especially the price of wheat in our country has skyrocketed, affecting dietary life. Energy and stagflation (economic stagnation with inflation) are also triggering red lights for industrial competitiveness, so everyone should pay attention to this."

President Yoon emphasized that the supplementary budget for additional COVID-19 loss compensation for small business owners and self-employed individuals should be promptly prepared and passed, and that the supplementary budget bill should be submitted to the National Assembly through the Cabinet meeting. He said, "As I promised during the presidential election, if quick compensation support for small business owners and self-employed people affected by COVID-19 is not provided, there is a very high risk that they will fall into welfare recipients. That itself will become a burden on the national finances in the future, so rather than that, we should pull forward the budget and execute it as early as possible despite fiscal soundness being weak, so that these people can recover."

Regarding North Korea's move to resume nuclear tests, he said, "The security situation is not easy," and added, "Foreign countries are also worried, and there are talks about resuming nuclear tests. When such a situation occurs, you must closely monitor and study whether it will affect not only security but also other directions of state affairs."

President Yoon stressed the efforts of his aides to communicate for efficient state administration. He said, "Being a presidential aide does not legally divide the work into political affairs chief secretary, economic and social chief secretary, and security chief secretary. It is something shared by all." He continued, "When I went to the 6th and 7th floors of the Yongsan Presidential Office building, the offices are connected on one floor. Secretaries, administrative officers, and chief secretaries go here and there and constantly communicate with people working in other fields. You really have to wear out the soles of your shoes for things to run normally."

He also made a candid remark regarding criticism that his inaugural address the previous day lacked mention of unity. He said, "National unity is something we do every day. The Constitution is, so to speak, a norm for uniting the people as one." He added, "And our democratic political process itself is a daily process of national unity. So there is no left or right wing, and there are no separate groups of people who support us and those who do not."

He continued, "If all the people want to live well together, shouldn't we share basic values and move forward together? Therefore, I set freedom as the basic value found in our Constitution. Welfare, education, and warm consideration for the vulnerable are things that must be recognized as duties to strengthen solidarity as free citizens." He emphasized, "It is not a concession of freedom. People think welfare and fair distribution conflict with freedom and are concessions of freedom, but if freedom concedes, dictatorship exists there. It is really a sense of solidarity among free people, voluntary participation, paying taxes thinking this is my duty, and doing this to protect our freedom."

Earlier, when President Yoon arrived at the Yongsan office at around 8:33 a.m., he told reporters, "Some pointed out that my inaugural address yesterday lacked mention of unity, but that is because it is too obvious." He added, "Unity is the political process itself, a process of national unity. I talked about 'what values we will pursue while uniting,' so please understand it that way."

Meanwhile, President Yoon continues his 'inaugural diplomacy' following the previous day. Starting at 10 a.m. in the presidential office reception room, he will hold talks with the Indonesian congratulatory delegation and the President of the Central African Republic. Also, from 11 a.m., he plans to meet with congratulatory delegations from Canada and Saudi Arabia, as well as a Japanese parliamentary group.