President Moon: "The Importance of V4 Is Not Well Known by the Public and Media"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] President Moon Jae-in, who toured Europe for 7 nights and 9 days, emphasized public promotion of the Visegr?d Group (V4) during the V4 schedule conducted toward the end of the tour, saying, "It seems that the public and the media do not well understand the importance of the V4."

Park Soo-hyun, the Blue House Chief of Public Communication, conveyed on his Facebook on the 7th in 'Stories about the President not in the briefing' that President Moon gave such instructions after returning from the tour.

According to Chief Park, after returning from the tour and arriving at the presidential residence without even changing clothes, President Moon expressed regret, saying, "There is something disappointing about this tour," and added, "Our companies are very well aware of the dynamism and importance of the four V4 countries, but it seems that our citizens and the media do not know well about it."

He continued, "Even I felt on-site that these countries are much more important than what I was briefed during the tour preparation," and added, "From now on, the media should inform the public in detail about these countries, and efforts should be made so that cooperation and solidarity with these countries can greatly contribute to our country's development and national interests."

President Moon held a V4 summit during this tour and announced a joint statement including the expansion of trade and future industry cooperation.

It appears that he pointed out the relatively low public attention to the achievements made with the V4 compared to the earlier G20 summit and the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) attendance as a problem.

President Moon emphasized that in terms of dynamism, the V4 is ahead of the European Union (EU). He said, "There was a time when Western Europe looked down on these Eastern European regions as a lower tier, but now while Western Europe is stagnant or declining, this region is growing dynamically," and added, "The EU's average annual growth rate is 1.7%, but these V4 countries have achieved a high growth rate of 3.6%."

He also mentioned the emotional affinity with Korea. President Moon explained, "The V4 shares similarities with us in terms of national consciousness and public sentiment, making solidarity and cooperation very easy," and said, "Because of common experiences such as overthrowing military dictatorship and communism to reach democracy, and suffering a history of pain caused by foreign powers, they feel understanding, respect, and closeness toward us."

Chief Park said, "The President's words may sound like reminiscence at first, but upon closer thought, they are specific instructions for follow-up measures after the tour," and added, "Especially regarding the V4, the remarks were almost like a lecture, logical and detailed rather than just instructions."

Meanwhile, Chief Park also expressed that he felt the changed status of the Republic of Korea during this tour. He said, "Compared to the early days of the Moon Jae-in administration in 2017, in just five years, the number of countries inviting the President of Korea or requesting summit meetings at multilateral conferences has greatly increased," and stated, "I am clearly witnessing the reality of Korea changing from a 'consumer of the international order' to a 'producer of the international order' through the President's schedule."

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