Yoon Receives Lunar New Year Public Sentiment Report: "Ultimately, It's About People's Livelihood"... Post-Holiday Local Livelihood Discussion Meetings Planned

Presidential Office: "We Will Travel Nationwide with Everyday Life Themes"

President Yoon Suk-yeol, after receiving reports on public sentiment during the Lunar New Year holiday from his aides, said, "Ultimately, it is about people's livelihood," and added, "We must put more effort into governing with a focus on people's livelihood going forward."

Kim Soo-kyung, spokesperson for the Presidential Office, stated at a briefing at the Yongsan Presidential Office on the afternoon of the 12th, "Even after the Lunar New Year holiday, the Yoon administration plans to travel across the country, including Yeongnam and Chungcheong regions, to listen to the voices of the people with a determination solely focused on people's livelihood as a government that takes action to solve problems."

Spokesperson Kim also said, "Today, President Yoon appointed a new vice-chairman of the Low Birthrate and Aging Society Committee. President Yoon has emphasized that regional competitiveness is national competitiveness and that it is difficult to solve the low birthrate problem without opening a local era through balanced regional development," adding, "President Yoon plans to continue traveling nationwide with themes closely related to daily life, such as employment and regulations, to create a country where all regions prosper evenly."

This move is interpreted as a response to criticism that the ten previous people's livelihood forums, held three times in Seoul and seven times in Gyeonggi Province, were limited to the metropolitan area, making it difficult to reflect the voices of people living in other regions.

When asked about the background of holding the 11th people's livelihood forum in a non-metropolitan area, unlike previous forums presided over by President Yoon in the metropolitan area, a Presidential Office official replied, "Some have said that since the forums were mainly held in the metropolitan area, there is a need to listen to the opinions of many people in non-metropolitan areas as well, and we strongly agree with that."

President Yoon Suk-yeol is taking a commemorative photo while having breakfast with street cleaning environmental officers belonging to Dongjak-gu at a restaurant in Dongjak-gu, Seoul, on the first day of the Lunar New Year holiday on the 9th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

He continued, "It was never the intention to focus solely on the metropolitan area by distinguishing between metropolitan and non-metropolitan regions. Naturally, we will go wherever the people's opinions are, including non-metropolitan areas, and listen to their views and reflect them in policies as a government that takes action. This means traveling to various regions such as Yeongnam and Chungcheong," adding, "The people's livelihood forums are not completely fixed in schedule; if there is something to be addressed at the time, we visit the site, so we plan to expand on-site activities even more going forward."

When a reporter asked, "You mentioned Yeongnam and Chungcheong as examples, but what about Honam and Gangwon?" the official replied, "The people's livelihood forums are not fixed to twenty or thirty times in advance. Sometimes more urgent matters are addressed first, and less urgent ones are postponed, so we decide based on the situation at the time, going where the topic can be well highlighted or where regional issues arise. We are not limiting ourselves to specific regions."

Meanwhile, regarding ongoing opposition from the medical community over the increase in medical school admissions, when asked how President Yoon managed this during the Lunar New Year holiday, a Presidential Office official said, "The position is to appeal as earnestly as possible. Since the collective action is a family matter, there is nothing to announce in advance about how we will respond," adding, "President Yoon has stated that this is a national desire and an unavoidable task. We earnestly appeal for it to be resolved smoothly without much pain."

President Yoon Suk-yeol is encouraging merchants by visiting Junggok Jeil Market in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, a day before the Lunar New Year holiday on the 8th. [Image source=Yonhap News]