President Lee: "International Energy Turmoil Could Decide Nation's Fate"

President Lee at Senior Secretary Meeting on January 8
"Steadily Preparing for the Great Energy Transition"
Appears to Refer to Venezuelan Oil Issue

President Lee Jae-myung is speaking at the Senior Secretary Meeting held at the Blue House on the 8th. Photo by Yonhap News

On January 8, President Lee Jae-myung urged, "We must clearly recognize that how we prepare for the future energy transition will determine not only our nation's growth but also its fate, and we must make thorough preparations."

At the Senior Secretary Meeting held at the Blue House that day, President Lee stated, "You are all directly experiencing and witnessing the international turmoil surrounding energy issues," and emphasized the need to prepare diligently for the energy transition.

The "energy issues" mentioned by President Lee appear to refer to the recent turmoil in the global oil market following the United States' airstrikes on Venezuela. The U.S. government announced on January 7 (local time) that it would allow the indefinite sale of Venezuelan-produced crude oil on the market.

President Lee also stressed the need to deliver tangible results so that the public can feel the improvements in key economic indicators such as the KOSPI.

He stated, "To achieve this, we must break away from the past paradigm of concentrated resources and opportunities, and pursue a major transformation in growth that connects national development to changes in the lives of all citizens. We will focus policy capabilities so that regions, small and medium-sized ventures, startups, and young people-areas that have been relatively marginalized-can become new pillars of growth."

President Lee continued, "Sustainable growth for all depends on securing competitiveness in future high-tech industries," and analyzed, "In particular, the global competition for artificial intelligence (AI) has now evolved beyond individual companies to become a factor that determines the fate of nations."

He then instructed, "Please accelerate efforts to secure talent, expand infrastructure, and strengthen global cooperation so that AI can serve as the foundation for a qualitative transformation across all areas of society."

Regarding the achievements of his visit to China, President Lee assessed, "A solid foundation has been laid for the full restoration of Korea-China relations, and a platform has been well established to further strengthen exchanges and cooperation in the economic and cultural sectors."

He added, "In the harsh international order where there are no permanent enemies, no permanent allies, and no permanent rules, the fate of the Republic of Korea depends on pragmatic, national-interest-centered diplomacy that we must forge ourselves. Moving forward, we will continue to broaden the basis for cooperation with neighboring countries through flexible and meticulous pragmatic diplomacy, protect our national interests, strengthen national power, and more actively improve the lives of our people."