10 Notable Changes Highlighted by the Presidential Office... Communication in the Office, 5·18 Integration Efforts, Supplementary Budget, South Korea-US Summit, and More
[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] Marking one month since President Yoon Seok-yeol's inauguration, the Presidential Office highlighted its biggest changes as the 'opening of the Yongsan era and the opening of the Blue House.' Notable actions include the regular doorstepping (brief Q&A on the way to work), which was rarely seen in politics before, and the historically shortest period in which the South Korea-US summit was held.
Looking at the materials recently released by the Presidential Office to mark President Yoon's one-month anniversary, the 10 changes selected by the office were ▲the opening of the Yongsan era ▲regular doorstepping by the president on his way to work (brief Q&A) ▲communication activities during lunch hours and weekends ▲the president's office opened to citizens ▲the Blue House front yard transformed into a citizen plaza ▲frequent communication between the president and his secretaries ▲unification efforts ▲passage of supplementary budget ▲visits to the press room ▲and the South Korea-US summit.
The most notable point for the Presidential Office was the opening of the Blue House. Regarding the 'opening of the Yongsan era and returning the Blue House to the people,' the office stated, "After 74 years since the establishment of the government, we have returned the Blue House to the people." In particular, from the 10th of last month to the 8th of this month, the cumulative number of visitors to the Blue House reached 758,394, marking a departure from the Blue House and pioneering a new presidential era, according to their self-assessment.
Doorstepping occurred a total of 12 times. Additionally, the office explained that they fulfilled the promise of 'not hiding behind aides' by engaging in surprise communication activities with citizens during weekday lunch hours and weekends.
Examples of 'the president's office opened to citizens' include a luncheon on the 25th of last month inviting 20 representatives of public hope, and events on the 9th inviting survivors of the Cheonan sinking, families of victims from the Yeonpyeong naval battle, and victims of North Korea's landmine provocations. Furthermore, an event is planned to invite Yongsan residents to the lawn plaza in front of the Yongsan government complex. This aims to transform the plaza in front of the office into a 'citizen space' that people can enjoy anytime. Other representative achievements include unification efforts such as attending the 42nd anniversary ceremony of the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement with ruling party figures, executing a supplementary budget of 62 trillion won for 'COVID-19 loss compensation,' and the South Korea-US summit.
On the day before marking one month since his inauguration, President Yoon responded to questions saying, "I am originally someone who lives without special feelings about reaching one month or one year," and added, "There are many urgent issues right now, so I have to work hard."
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