President Lee: "We Need to Accelerate Legislation and Administration... Still Seriously Lacking and Frustrating"

Lee Presides Over Senior Aides Meeting
"There May Be Reasons, But I Am Frustrated"
Expresses Disappointment Over Slow National Assembly

Yonhap News

President Lee Jaemyung expressed his frustration with the slow pace of legislation in the National Assembly on January 29, urging lawmakers to speed up the process.

During a senior secretaries' meeting at the presidential office that afternoon, President Lee stated, "It would be better if we could secure more speed in both legislation and administration," adding, "Although it appears that quite a lot has been accomplished over the past seven months from an objective standpoint, by my standards, it is still far from sufficient."

He went on to criticize, "There may be reasons for this, but there are many times when I find the situation extremely frustrating."

President Lee reiterated, "There is a mountain of work to be done, but our capabilities are limited, so I always feel pressed for time. The time we have to work is also very limited, so we must do our absolute best with the time available."

He further emphasized, "Ultimately, the purpose of state affairs is to improve the lives of the people. We need to implement more effective policies. We must identify as many things as possible that can be done right now and carry them out quickly and extensively."

He recalled, "I believe I said at the beginning of my term that if there is a backlog of work, we should not get bogged down with major tasks and waste time, but instead handle the easier tasks swiftly. Let's start by quickly tackling what can be done effectively. I hope we can work with a sense of urgency, believing that every small effort adds up to something significant."

President Lee had also expressed his disappointment with the slow legislative process during a cabinet meeting on January 27, stating, "The National Assembly is so slow that it is impossible to get any work done." At that time, he lamented, "It has been nearly eight months since the government was launched, but only 20% of the basic legislative policies of the government have been completed."