President Moon's First Direct Response on the 4th Anniversary of 'Gukmin Cheongwon'... "Gukmin Cheongwon, a Symbol of Our Government"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] President Moon Jae-in directly responded to public petitions on the 4th anniversary of the National Petition system, addressing issues such as the expansion of nursing staff at public health centers, support for infertility treatment costs, and improvement of working conditions for essential workers. President Moon stated, "I will always listen attentively to the national petitions and sincerely communicate with the people," expressing his commitment to heed the voices of the citizens.

On the 19th, through his response to the national petitions, President Moon said, "In terms of communication with the people, the 'National Petition' has become a symbol of our government."

The National Petition system, established on the 100th day of President Moon’s inauguration, originated from his philosophy emphasizing 'direct democracy' and is now celebrating its 4th anniversary. So far, a total of 1.04 million petitions have been posted, with cumulative supporters exceeding 200 million. This is the first time President Moon has directly responded to petitions.

President Moon emphasized, "Many cases where petitioners’ earnest appeals have gone beyond individual complaints to gain public sympathy and lead to institutional improvements exist. Improvements have been made in various areas such as preventing child traffic accidents, strengthening penalties for drunk driving, and eradicating digital sex crimes, which have become driving forces advancing our society step by step."

He also responded to issues in petitions that the government had not officially addressed but deserve attention. The first response was to a petition regarding 'infertility treatment costs.' President Moon expressed empathy with the petitioners’ concerns about the high costs of infertility treatment and emphasized, "Our government first began applying health insurance coverage to infertility treatment in October 2017."

President Moon stated, "The government plans to further expand support for infertility treatment costs," adding, "From the fourth quarter of this year, additional two treatment procedures will be supported, and for women under 44 years old, the out-of-pocket rate, which was up to 50% depending on the number of procedures, will be uniformly reduced to 30%." He also requested employers to actively encourage the 'infertility treatment leave system' implemented under the Moon administration.

Regarding the petition titled 'Please prevent public health center nurses from collapsing due to exhaustion,' President Moon said, "This is a matter that many citizens sympathize with," and responded, "The government increased nursing staff at public health centers by 1,273 in the first half of this year and is currently hiring an additional 2,353 infectious disease response personnel this month."

He added, "We will continue to expand nursing staff and simultaneously work on improving working conditions and treatment so that nursing personnel can receive fair compensation."

Additionally, in response to petitions demanding improved treatment for essential workers, he said, "The government will continuously pay attention and expand support." Regarding a petition requesting expanded support for cervical cancer vaccination, he replied, "The target for free cervical cancer vaccination will be expanded from female adolescents under 12 years old to those under 17 years old, so that all female adolescents can benefit from free preventive vaccination."

President Moon stated, "There are many other petitions that the government needs to respond to," and added, "Although some petitions are beyond the government's authority or are political in nature and difficult to answer, we will always listen attentively to the national petitions and sincerely communicate with the people."

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