President Moon: "The 21st National Assembly Must End Confrontation and Hostile Politics and Open an 'Era of Cooperation'" (Update)

President Moon Jae-in is delivering an opening congratulatory speech at the opening ceremony of the 21st National Assembly held in the main chamber of the National Assembly on the 16th. 2020.7.16 [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Son Sun-hee] President Moon Jae-in said on the 16th, "The 21st National Assembly must put an end to politics of confrontation and hostility and surely open a new 'era of cooperation.'"

In a speech at the 'Opening Ceremony of the 21st National Assembly' that afternoon, President Moon said, "In the midst of the current global crisis and upheaval, cooperation is even more urgent," adding, "I sincerely hope that we will respond to the people's desire for bipartisan cooperation to overcome national difficulties and compete with better politics and policies."

President Moon said, "The National Assembly has demonstrated its strength in times of crisis through the tradition of 'solidarity and cooperation,'" and added, "The capacity to overcome COVID-19 today has also been accumulated and nurtured through the National Assembly's livelihood legislation." He continued, "Thanks to many legislative achievements of the 20th National Assembly, we were able to lay the foundation for an 'innovative inclusive nation,'" and praised, "The 20th National Assembly played a significant role in overcoming Japan's export restrictions and worked hard until the end of its term in responding to the COVID-19 crisis by swiftly processing the first and second supplementary budgets."

However, recalling the 20th National Assembly, which was marked by confrontation to the extent of being called the 'Animal National Assembly,' he said, "Despite the achievements and efforts of the 20th National Assembly, it is true that the public's evaluation was very low," and pointed out, "The public's political awareness has continued to rise, but reality politics has not kept pace."

President Moon reflected, "I believe the biggest failure was the 'failure of cooperation,'" adding, "We tried to communicate through various opportunities with the National Assembly, and each time we pledged cooperation in front of the people, but it was not followed by action." He continued, "Cooperation is only possible when both hands clap together," and confessed, "Without blaming anyone, including myself, it is a shared responsibility of all of us."

President Moon congratulated the opening, saying, "The National Assembly building is a place that must be reborn every day to move toward a 'country where we all live well,' and it is the engine of the Republic of Korea that cannot stop even for a moment," adding, "Although it faced many difficulties from the very start, I sincerely hope that the 21st National Assembly will start anew with reflection and a fresh mindset, shaking off all the pains so far."

This is the ninth time a sitting president has delivered an opening speech to the National Assembly since the 1987 constitutional amendment. The ceremony took place 48 days after the start of the 21st National Assembly members' term, making it the latest opening ceremony in history.

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