President Moon Fulfills Promise to Respond in 'Dialogue with the People'

Analysis of 20,786 New Office Application Stories, Answers Published by 179 Types Across 53 Items in 14 Fields

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Jeong-min] President Moon Jae-in fulfilled his promise to respond to questions related to the 'Dialogue with the People' held last November.

The Blue House announced on the 23rd, "We have responded to the stories submitted by 10,842 citizens who directly conveyed their requests to President Moon during the Dialogue with the People held last November."

Following the release of individual response letters to questions from 300 participants at the Dialogue with the People event, the Blue House further analyzed 10,842 additional applicants and 20,786 stories, and published 179 types of responses categorized into 14 fields on the Blue House website. This fulfills President Moon's promise to answer all opinions and questions sent by the public during the broadcast.

President Moon Jae-in is answering questions from the public panel at the 'The People Ask, 2019 Dialogue with the People' held at MBC in Sangam-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, on the afternoon of November 19 last year.
[Photo by Cheong Wa Dae]

Analysis of the 20,786 submitted stories from the Dialogue with the People revealed that men in their 40s and 50s made up the largest group of applicants at 28.1%. By occupation, office workers such as company employees accounted for 19.1%, and professionals such as teachers, doctors, and researchers made up 14.6%, relatively high proportions. By type, proposals or requests for improvement regarding policies such as judicial reform and job creation were the most common at 62.4%. Wishes for the president’s good governance followed at 24.9%.

Age-specific characteristics showed that teenagers were most interested in education, people in their 20s and 40s in employment and labor, those in their 30s in health and welfare, people in their 50s and 60s in judicial matters, and those in their 70s in national defense and veterans affairs. By gender, women showed higher interest in health, welfare, and safety fields, while men showed a more balanced interest across various fields.

By field, demands for prosecutorial and court reform, and the establishment of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials in the judicial sector (15.6%), and demands for job creation and resolution of irregular employment issues in the employment and labor sector (15.4%) were notably high.

Additionally, in the health and welfare sector, there were opinions on welfare policies targeting low birth rates, childcare costs, and child care; in the national defense, veterans affairs, and unification sectors, opinions on inter-Korean relations, GSOMIA, and defense cost-sharing; and in the economy, finance, and corporate sectors, opinions on economic revitalization and support for small business owners. There were also opinions on parliamentary normalization, demands for no work no pay for lawmakers, and youth voting rights.

Besides the categorized responses, the Blue House plans to separately promote institutional improvements for issues requiring attention such as support for socially vulnerable groups, elimination of unfairness in daily life, and social care needs.

For stories requiring urgent measures such as domestic violence resolution or emergency livelihood support, prompt action will be taken after verifying personal information. Results of institutional improvements and actions will be announced through the Blue House website and SNS accounts.

No Young-min, Chief of Staff to the President, stated, "The Dialogue with the People did not end after the live broadcast on November 17 last year but has continued since then," and added, "The submitted stories we responded to this time contain the real voices of citizens’ hard lives, and we will make every effort to ensure that each citizen’s voice leads to tangible change."

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