President Moon: "If There Are Opposition Figures Willing to Join, I Will Include Them in the Cabinet"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yang Nak-gyu] President Moon Jae-in stated, "After the general election, if there are opposition figures who can join the cabinet, we will make efforts to work together."

On the 14th, President Moon held a New Year's press conference at the Blue House State Guest House under the theme "Certain Change, Republic of Korea 2020." Regarding Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun's earlier proposal for a "post-April 15 general election cooperative cabinet," he said, "Since this is different from a coalition government in a parliamentary system, it would be difficult to allocate seats uniformly by party or assign a certain number of seats to specific parties," adding, "However, even if they do not agree with the overall national governance philosophy, if they agree with the policy goals of the relevant ministry, I believe we can work together."

President Moon further pointed out, "If the president publicly pursues that part, it is attacked as opposition destruction and opposition division tactics in our political reality," emphasizing, "We will make efforts for cooperation through such methods after the general election, but our political culture must also change through the general election."

He added, "However, it is not something that can be achieved by the president's will alone," explaining, "I made such efforts several times in the first half of my term. There were media reports about offers to join the cabinet, and although not reported in the media, there were also proposals to individuals who could symbolize political integration and cooperation with even greater significance."

This is President Moon's third New Year's press conference. Unlike previous years, since he delivered a New Year's address on the 7th, the conference proceeded in a Q&A format after a brief opening remark of about three minutes without a separate New Year's address. The Q&A with reporters was divided into three topics: politics and society, livelihood and economy, and diplomacy and security, without pre-selecting questioners.

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