President Moon: "The Green New Deal is the path we must take"... to be included in the 'Korean New Deal'

Kang Min-seok, Blue House Spokesperson [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Son Sun-hee] The Blue House announced on the 20th that President Moon Jae-in has decided to include the 'Green New Deal' in the 'Korean New Deal,' a policy proposed to create jobs in preparation for the employment market shock caused by the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis.

Kang Min-seok, spokesperson for the Blue House, held a briefing at the press center in the afternoon and said, "President Moon recently received a joint written report from related ministries," adding, "After careful review, it was concluded to include the 'Green New Deal' within the existing 'Korean New Deal' projects."

President Moon stated, "The Green New Deal is clearly the path we must take," and added, "It is necessary to acknowledge it considering the demands of the international community and civil society." Regarding this, he reportedly urged, "A broad design is needed so that the Green New Deal harmonizes with the construction of digital infrastructure."

Spokesperson Kang explained, "This decision was the result of President Moon's will," and said, "Through consultations with the Policy Office of the Blue House and the Ministry of Economy and Finance, among other related ministries, it was organized to lead the Korean New Deal as a 'Digital New Deal + Green New Deal' project." He also added, "Some specific Green New Deal projects included in the Korean New Deal will also be reflected in the third supplementary budget proposal."

Regarding the specific contents of the 'Green New Deal,' a key Blue House official cited the 'Green Remodeling Project' as an example, explaining, "There are projects under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport such as energy performance improvement of aging buildings," and added, "Which projects will be included in the third supplementary budget will be organized by the ministries."

On the timing of submitting the third supplementary budget proposal to the National Assembly, the official said, "It is linked to the situation in the National Assembly, so it is difficult to specify the exact timing, but the stance is to proceed quickly anyway," and added, "Details of the New Deal projects will be known around early June."

In response to opinions that the 'Green New Deal' promoted by the Moon Jae-in administration recalls the 'Green Growth' of the past Lee Myung-bak administration, the official explained, "It is not about overturning the past Green Growth, but an upgraded version suited to the current era," while also noting, "It is different from large-scale civil engineering projects." He added, "The Green New Deal places emphasis on 'sustainability' to respond to climate change."

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