President Moon: "The New Year is a Year of Unity... K-Quarantine Achievements Will Not Fade" (Comprehensive)

청 New Year's Meeting Held via Online Video Conference... Attendance Reduced Due to COVID-19, 4 Major Group Heads Also Excluded from Participants

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Jeong-min] The 2021 New Year's Greeting Meeting for the Year of the Ox (辛丑年), hosted by President Moon Jae-in on the 7th, was held as an ‘online video conference’ without the participation of the heads of the four major conglomerates.

Due to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), the event was conducted in a non-face-to-face format, with about 50 attendees, which is one-fifth of last year's number. The theme of this year's New Year's Greeting Meeting was ‘A Nation Strong in Crisis, a Reliable Republic of Korea.’

In his New Year's address, President Moon said, "Korea, which performed well in both quarantine and the economy, was a ‘self-portrait of 2020’ created together by all citizens," and added, "The proud achievements of K-quarantine by our people will never fade."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

President Moon emphasized, "The new year is a ‘year of unity,’" and added, "More importantly, it is unity of the heart." He pledged, "We will achieve a fast and strong economic recovery through the full implementation of the ‘Korean New Deal’ and leap forward as a leading country. If conditions permit, we will also make every effort until the end for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, permanent peace, and the development of inter-Korean relations."

This year's New Year's Greeting Meeting included the participation of the five branches of government leaders such as National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug, Supreme Court Chief Justice Kim Myeong-su, Constitutional Court Chief Justice Yoo Nam-seok, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, and Central Election Commission Chairperson Noh Jeong-hee via online video conference, who delivered New Year's greetings. Lee Nak-yeon, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Kim Jong-in, emergency committee chairman of the People Power Party, also sent messages of goodwill. Additionally, representatives from the national merchants and small business sectors, religious communities, and civil society participated.

Previously, the Blue House held a New Year's Greeting Meeting in 2019 at the Korea Federation of SMEs with about 350 attendees, and in 2020 at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry with about 260 participants.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Last year, the heads of the four major conglomerates, including Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, attended, but this year, as the event was scaled down, they were not included among the participants. This year, from the economic sector, Park Yong-man, chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Kim Im-yong, acting president of the Korea Federation of Micro Enterprise, participated together. Chairman Park delivered the ‘New Year's wishes’ on behalf of the attendees.

Meanwhile, last year, Cabinet members such as Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae and heads of power institutions including Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl were invited to President Moon's New Year's Greeting Meeting, but this year they were excluded from the list of participants.

This year, symbolizing ‘people strong in crisis,’ eight ordinary citizens, including ‘hero’ Gu Chang-sik, who saved 18 residents at the Ulsan mixed-use residential fire site, were specially invited.

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