Bareunmiraedang: "President Moon's New Year's Address Contains Self-Praise but No Reflection"

"Just as expected... There is a general overview but the details are lacking"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] On the 7th, the Bareunmirae Party harshly criticized President Moon Jae-in's 2020 New Year's address, calling it "a New Year's speech full of self-praise but lacking reflection, with general principles but insufficient specifics," saying, "We had our doubts, and as expected."

Kang Shin-up, spokesperson for the Bareunmirae Party, stated in a commentary that "self-praise was again present this year, but there is no reflection on past state administration even if you look closely," adding, "As people hear claims that jobs have increased or that employment rates and quality have improved, our citizens will think that President Moon never had a 'reflection DNA' from the start."

He said, "If it is a New Year's address outlining the state administration plan for the year, reflection on the shortcomings of state administration should come before flashy rhetoric or self-praise," and criticized, "Only the president says our economy has no problems, so our citizens cannot help but doubt if they heard it wrong."

He continued, "It is also hard to understand that despite the Blue House secretariat being entirely under investigation by the prosecution and, moreover, the president himself being implicated in the Ulsan mayoral election fraud allegations, there was not even a single word of regret."

Spokesperson Kang criticized, "The president's flashy words such as inclusion, innovation, and fairness are at best abstract ideals or normative goals, not concrete practical methods or realistic reform alternatives," and said, "What the president should first consider is how to grow our economy and how to secure welfare resources."

Kang added, "It is very regrettable that despite the inter-Korean relations having long been at an impasse, the president still cannot escape unfounded optimism," and sharply stated, "As usual, the president repeated general principles rather than specifics, and existing claims rather than proposing new alternatives."

Spokesperson Kang said, "With dark clouds gathering over the global economy and international affairs heading toward a crisis on a knife-edge, the president's perception of the state situation as shown in the New Year's address remains complacent," and strongly urged, "I strongly urge the president to operate the state faithfully for national benefit and people's welfare by finding effective methods based on a clear-eyed recognition of reality."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.