President Lee Presides Over the 33rd Cabinet Meeting
Lee: "Measures to Eradicate Serious Accidents Must Be Communicated Without Filter"
Plans to Gradually Increase Frequency and Scope of Public Broadcasts
At the State Council meeting held on the 29th at the Yongsan Presidential Office building in Seoul, presidential aides and cabinet members are listening to President Lee Jae Myung's remarks. Photo by Yonhap News
The Cabinet meeting, attended by the President and Cabinet members, was broadcast live for the first time in the history of previous administrations. The decision to air the meeting live was made so abruptly that even the Cabinet members were not informed in advance. The Presidential Office announced that, taking circumstances into account, it plans to gradually increase both the frequency and scope of live Cabinet meeting broadcasts.
On July 29, at the Yongsan Presidential Office, President Lee presided over the 33rd Cabinet meeting, which was broadcast live for one hour and twenty minutes, including his opening remarks, the introduction of new Cabinet members, and the discussion of measures to eradicate industrial accident fatalities. Typically, only the President's opening remarks at Cabinet meetings are released after the fact, with the remainder of the meeting held behind closed doors. This is the first time in government history that a Cabinet meeting has been broadcast live in this way.
It is reported that even the ministers who prepared and presented the measures were unaware that the Cabinet meeting would be broadcast live. Lee Kyuyoun, Senior Secretary for Public Relations and Communication, explained, "President Lee instructed that the discussion process on measures to eradicate serious accidents should be broadcast live without any filtering, as it is something that must be communicated transparently to all citizens." However, the Presidential Office stated that this live broadcast was a one-time measure and that, moving forward, it would expand both the number and scope of public Cabinet meetings depending on circumstances.
During this process, President Lee's instructions and remarks were revealed in real time. While receiving reports from ministries, President Lee asked what level of sanctions would be imposed for failing to implement safety measures. When the Cabinet members were unable to answer, President Lee instructed, "Someone should go out and check." Later, after being informed during the meeting that the fines ranged from 50,000 to 50 million won, President Lee commented, "This is something that needs to be fixed," indicating the need to increase the level of sanctions.
The exchanges between the President and Cabinet members were also broadcast without filtering. After Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Younghoon reported on measures to prevent industrial accident fatalities and stated, "I will stake my position on eradicating them," President Lee responded, "If industrial accidents do not decrease over time, you really should stake your position." President Lee also expressed his intention to personally participate in the on-site surprise inspections that Minister Kim conducts weekly.
After the discussion on serious accidents concluded, the topic shifted to forest management measures related to wildfires and landslides. At this point, the broadcast was temporarily paused, but resumed after about five to six minutes. Following a five-minute discussion on the schedule for ministry work reports, the meeting moved to the agenda items scheduled for the day, at which point the session became closed to the public.
Meanwhile, President Lee had previously broadcast executive meetings via video while serving as Governor of Gyeonggi Province, after accepting suggestions from staff members.
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