President Moon personally wrote an introduction for Jeong Eun-kyeong in the US Time magazine... "She readily agreed"

"Writing at the presidential level is a very old practice"
President Moon in Time magazine introduction: "Jeong Eun-kyung led the success of K-quarantine"
"An inspiring story for all Jeong Eun-kyungs fighting against COVID-19"

Jung Eun-kyung, Director of the Central Disease Control Headquarters (Director of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency) / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] Jeong Eun-kyeong, Commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), was included in the list of the "100 Most Influential People in the World" selected by the U.S. media outlet Time magazine, and an introduction of Commissioner Jeong written personally by President Moon Jae-in was published in Time. On the 24th, the Blue House explained that President Moon "readily agreed to write the introduction because he is well aware that Commissioner Jeong is working hard on the front lines of quarantine."

Lee Jisoo, the Blue House Secretary for Overseas Media, appeared on TBS Radio's "Kim Eo-jun's News Factory" on the same day and said, "It is a very long-standing practice for someone at the presidential level to write such introductions," adding, "People like Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama mainly wrote them, and to my recollection, a president wrote an introduction once in the 1970s."

The secretary explained that on July 27, she received an email from the Asia editor of Time magazine asking if she could write an introduction for Commissioner Jeong. She said, "There has been a slight change in the selection process for Time's 100 Most Influential People recently," and added, "While the selection is made by Time under strict criteria, the format has changed to include introductions written by notable figures or well-known individuals in the respective fields of each country."

She continued, "Since it could be a sensitive issue, we deliberated over whether to call it a recommendation letter or an introduction," and added, "Since it was not a recommendation by the president, it cannot be called a recommendation letter."

It was reported that Commissioner Jeong only learned about her selection for Time's 100 Most Influential People shortly before the announcement. The secretary said, "From what I heard, about three days ago, Time sent a congratulatory email to Commissioner Jeong," and explained, "The Blue House did not inform Commissioner Jeong in advance. Considering she is a busy person and thinking of it as a small gift, Time requested confidentiality and took steps to ensure she was not informed beforehand."

Earlier, on the 23rd, the Blue House announced that Commissioner Jeong had been selected as one of Time magazine's "100 Most Influential People in the World" this year.

Notably, the article in Time included an introduction of Commissioner Jeong written in President Moon's name. In the introduction, President Moon stated, "During the COVID-19 pandemic, Korea's quarantine efforts became a global model, and Commissioner Jeong led K-quarantine to success by communicating sincerely with the public on the front lines of the response."

He continued, "When Korea's first confirmed case occurred, Commissioner Jeong stood before the public representing the government and transparently announced the situation daily," and evaluated, "As the first female head of the KDCA, she led a well-prepared organization by establishing a 'Manual for Responding to Unknown Cluster Infections' six months before the COVID-19 outbreak."

President Moon also quoted a line from Albert Camus's novel The Plague: "The only way to fight the plague is with integrity," emphasizing, "Commissioner Jeong's integrity is an inspiring story for countless 'Jeong Eun-kyeongs' fighting COVID-19 around the world and for all humanity ushering in the post-COVID era."

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