President Moon on SBS Radio Appearance "Facing First Lunar New Year Without Mother"

Appearing on Radio for Lunar New Year Greetings on His 68th Birthday... Requests the Song "Neoui Uimi" "I am a Fan of Kim Chang-wan"

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Jeong-min] "This is the first Lunar New Year without my mother." On the 24th, the first day of the Lunar New Year holiday, President Moon Jae-in appeared on SBS Radio's "Beautiful Morning with Kim Chang-wan" and shared various stories about life, family, and politics.

President Moon said, "The absence of my mother is painfully felt." This is the first Lunar New Year since he lost his mother in October last year. After listening to a listener's story, President Moon said, "I wonder if I ever properly said 'Mom, I really love you' even once, like the person who sent the story."

President Moon shared a story about causing worry to his mother during his youth in the democratization movement. He said, "I was expelled from university, arrested and detained multiple times, and even after becoming a lawyer, I was once arrested and detained," adding, "How much my mother must have worried every time."

President Moon expressed regret, saying, "After entering politics, there must have been joyful moments, but being at the center of politics and receiving many attacks, she must have always been anxious. I was very unfilial." He also shared a story about his mother reuniting with family living in North Korea at Mount Kumgang.

President Moon said, "When my mother fled from Hungnam, none of her maternal relatives could come, but in 2004, she was selected for the separated families reunion event and met her younger sister at Mount Kumgang. I think that was the greatest filial act of her life," adding, "When they parted after the reunion event, she was so sad. I promised to take her to our hometown during her lifetime, but I could not keep that promise."

Regarding plans for the Lunar New Year holiday, President Moon said, "I plan to spend time with my family, holding memorial rites for my mother and visiting her grave." He also said, "Yesterday, my wife and I went grocery shopping, and it was an opportunity to greet the merchants and shoppers and check the prices of groceries," adding, "Merchants say the Lunar New Year sales are tough, so it would be good to buy a lot of our cheap and delicious agricultural products."

Reflecting on last year, President Moon expressed some regrets. He said, "It is regrettable that the lives of our people did not improve more, but especially regrettable was that the North Korea-US dialogue did not progress well." He expressed disappointment over the situation where North Korea and the US held a summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, but failed to reach an agreement.

President Moon said, "It is most regrettable that the Hanoi summit ended empty-handed. If the North Korea-US dialogue had made some progress, peace on the Korean Peninsula and inter-Korean cooperation could have been greatly advanced, and we could have given hope to separated families during the holidays," expressing deep regret.

On his 68th birthday, when the host Kim Chang-wan offered to dedicate a song as a gift, President Moon said it was the best birthday present and requested Kim Chang-wan’s song "Your Meaning."

President Moon said, "I am a fan of Kim Chang-wan. We have lived in the same era. For many years, through music, acting, and comfortable broadcasting, he has consistently shown a great image. He is cool and I am thankful."

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