[Full Text] Lee Jae-myung New Year's Address "Beyond the Four Major Crises to an Era of Great National Leap"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jinyoung] Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, held a New Year's press conference on the morning of the 4th at the Kia Motors factory in Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi Province, expressing his ambition to "overcome the COVID-19 crisis and move toward an era of national great leap." Below is the full text of the New Year's address.

"Overcoming the Four Major Crises, We Will Move Toward an Era of National Great Leap!"

Dear respected citizens,

I am Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea.

The new year 2022 has dawned.

Despite difficulties, I believe we have come this far because each and every citizen endured pain and inconvenience and joined forces. I extend my deep gratitude and consolation to all those who devoted and sacrificed for neighbors and communities over the past year.

The Sohari factory where I stand today

is Korea's first integrated automobile factory,

holding the joys and sorrows of Korea's economic history.

It is the birthplace of our automobile industry,

the epicenter of the 1997 foreign exchange crisis,

and the site where President Kim Dae-jung declared the early end of the IMF crisis in 2001,

a place where the history of overcoming national crises breathes.

Over 20 years ago,

we proudly showed the world

that if we unite and work hard, we can overcome crises.

Dear citizens,

Korea now stands again before a crisis.

The COVID-19 pandemic, which struck the world,

threatened our lives and safety and took away our daily lives,

deepening the problems of low growth and polarization.

The climate crisis

threatens human survival,

and the intensifying US-China competition

endangers economic security.

Korea is facing a multi-layered crisis situation

condensed into these four major crises.

Just as the automobile industry overcame past crises

and rose as a core industry of Korea,

here today,

I promise together with the citizens

to overcome the crisis once again

and open the "Era of National Great Leap."

? Overcoming the COVID-19 Crisis

The past two years have been a time of lost daily life.

Fatigue among quarantine workers has peaked,

and with strengthened social distancing again,

small business owners and self-employed are facing desperate survival crises.

Although we were recognized as a model country in quarantine,

we must not stop here.

We will aim to be the first in the world

to fully experience the recovery of daily life,

becoming a "country that completely overcomes COVID-19."

First, we will build a medical system resilient to crises.

As seen in the recent resurgence of COVID-19,

without a stable medical system,

recovery of daily life is impossible.

We will expand public healthcare

and establish a "manageable medical system" under any circumstances.

We will prepare revolutionary improvements in treatment and expansion plans for frontline personnel.

We will strengthen the infectious disease crisis response system,

preventing spread in advance and prioritizing field opinions,

establishing efficient quarantine and medical governance.

Investment for securing and developing vaccines and treatments will also be expanded.

By the first half of this year,

we will supply a domestically developed COVID-19 vaccine

to the people.

We will strengthen home treatment,

establish mobile vaccination and COVID-19 test reservation systems,

and expand 24-hour COVID-19 testing centers to minimize public inconvenience.

We will designate dedicated hospitals for emergency surgery for confirmed patients and for mothers and newborns,

ensuring no patient suffers disadvantages or difficulties.

To completely overcome COVID-19,

we will strengthen national responsibility and compensation.

I have already urged extraordinary responses to COVID-19 several times.

I requested "full compensation for losses" for small business owners and self-employed,

and proposed a "national responsibility system" for vaccine side effects.

No one should bear unilateral sacrifices for the community.

With the three principles of "all, not partial; prior, not after; fiscal support over financial,"

we will fully support damages caused by quarantine cooperation.

Disasters leave the deepest wounds on the lowest places.

No citizen should suffer hardships in life due to COVID-19,

so we will strengthen income support and care.

With Lee Jae-myung's "national responsibility quarantine,"

we will overcome COVID-19

and build a "Korea strong against infectious disease crises."

Preemptive support is needed for small business owners and self-employed suffering from COVID-19.

I formally request the ruling and opposition parties in the National Assembly

to discuss a large-scale supplementary budget bill.

? Overcoming the Low Growth and Polarization Crisis

COVID-19

has deepened our social crises.

In addition to lost opportunities due to low growth, asset gaps have widened due to rising real estate prices.

Small and large companies, regular and irregular workers are divided,

as are urban and rural areas, and metropolitan and non-metropolitan regions.

The gap in polarization felt by citizens has deepened.

The ladder of social mobility is broken,

and the wealth and poverty of parents are inherited by children.

Low birth rates threatening our future are also a facet and result of an unequal and polarized society.

We will overcome Korea's low growth and polarization crisis.

First, we will increase the total amount of opportunities.

We will correct unfairness and alleviate inequality

so that our resources and opportunities

can be distributed efficiently.

The gap between irregular and regular workers must be resolved.

If they do the same work and achieve the same results,

irregular workers without job security

should receive higher pay than regular workers.

That is rational and fair.

We will correct unfair market orders such as internal transactions, market monopolies, abuse of power, and technology theft.

Through "fair growth" restoring balance of power in each sector

and "transformational growth" through national large-scale investment,

we will greatly increase the total amount of opportunities.

Above all, we will create a "Youth Opportunity Nation"

overflowing with hope and opportunities for young people.

To solve low growth and polarization problems,

the state will take responsibility for the basic foundation of life.

Everyone must have access to increased opportunities.

For that, every citizen must be able to maintain a minimum standard of living without being crushed by reality.

We will expand child allowances

to youth allowances up to age 18 and provide youth basic income

to support career guidance and capacity building.

We will support income gaps after retirement,

and guarantee minimum quality of life through farmers' basic income and support for cultural and artistic creators.

As a basic living space,

we will create housing policies that exclude no one.

We will establish a financial system that does not exclude the poor.

Overcoming Korea's low growth and polarization crisis

is the first step toward a "national great leap era" of shared prosperity.

? Overcoming the Climate Crisis and Technological Competition Crisis

Dear respected citizens,

Heatwaves, floods, droughts, and wildfires are becoming frequent,

and the world is groaning under abnormal climate conditions.

The climate crisis

is a reality before us and a matter of survival.

Europe will fully implement a carbon border tax from 2026.

RE100, where companies procure 100% of their electricity from renewable energy,

has already become the standard for global corporate management.

Carbon neutrality is now

a new world order in trade, industry, and technology.

Because Korea has an industrial structure with high carbon emissions,

it is an even more difficult and challenging task.

However, if we can lead even slightly,

we can open the path to economic revival.

We will take the lead in overcoming the climate crisis.

We will turn the urgent crisis of our times

into an opportunity for growth and leap.

Just as the Park Chung-hee administration's highways

laid the foundation for industrialization,

and the Kim Dae-jung administration's internet highways

laid the foundation for an IT powerhouse,

the Lee Jae-myung administration will

build energy highways powered by sunlight and wind,

laying the foundation for a carbon-neutral society.

We will fully support industrial structure transformation and technological innovation,

and accelerate the transition to a hydrogen economy and energy transition.

It is not only the climate crisis.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution

and the digital transformation of industries accelerated by COVID-19

have led to fierce global competition to secure future growth engines.

Korea, which entered the advanced country group from a developing country for the first time in UN history,

is at a critical crossroads:

whether to stop and be caught up,

or to take a step forward as a leading country.

We will make a science and technology innovation strategy

our top national agenda to prepare for this.

We will make large-scale national investments

to secure technological leadership and foster advanced industries.

Through transformational growth that turns crises into opportunities,

we will open the "Era of National Great Leap" toward a leading country.

? Overcoming Global Hegemony Competition and Korean Peninsula Crisis

Dear respected citizens,

The US-China hegemony competition threatens international supply chains

and can directly affect our lives,

as we clearly witnessed through last year's semiconductor shortage and urea solution crisis.

The struggle for dominance between the US and China over new technologies, resources, and energy supply chains will intensify.

Protectionism among countries will strengthen,

harming exports and trade.

This is a time when high-level diplomacy prioritizing national interests is more necessary than ever.

From this perspective,

both the US and China are essential partners for us.

We must strengthen cooperation not only economically but also for security and peace.

Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and establishing a permanent peace regime

are goals and tasks we can never give up as long as we live on this land.

With "pragmatic diplomacy centered on national interests,"

transcending ideology and choices,

we will overcome the US-China hegemony competition crisis

and open the "Era of National Great Leap" by establishing a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula.

? Era of National Great Leap, Pragmatism

Dear respected citizens,

The Lee Jae-myung administration

will boldly overcome the four major crises faced internally and externally?COVID-19, low growth and polarization, climate crisis, and global hegemony competition?

and open the "Era of National Great Leap."

We will aim for the world's 5th largest comprehensive national power (G5)

and move toward a national income of $50,000.

To this end,

based on national unity and pragmatism,

we will not discriminate by faction or ideology for competent talents and good policies.

Regarding real estate issues,

rather than suppressing prices and fighting the market,

we will focus on protecting non-homeowners and one-homeowners,

and achieve sufficient supply and market stabilization.

We will temporarily defer the heavy capital gains tax on multiple homeowners,

correct unreasonable comprehensive real estate taxes,

and relax reconstruction and redevelopment regulations in reasonable directions that help stabilize housing prices.

The Lee Jae-myung administration

will focus solely on the people and their livelihoods.

With the newly born Democratic Party and 172 seats in the National Assembly,

we will support stable national governance.

We will humbly but boldly push forward urgent legislative tasks for people's livelihoods.

Above all,

we will clearly define the state's responsibility and role amid crises.

We will end the situation where the country grows but individual citizens' lives do not improve.

We will open the "Era of National Great Leap" where both the country and citizens prosper.

? Personal Reflection, Korea's Resilience in Overcoming Crises

Dear respected citizens,

Having once given up entering middle school due to difficult family circumstances,

and wandering around factories in Seongnam,

it is deeply moving to now speak of the vision for a national great leap here at the Sohari factory.

Our Korean people are strong in crises.

We overcame the ruins of war to achieve industrialization and democratization.

We overcame the foreign exchange and financial crises

and grew into the world's 10th largest economy and an advanced country.

We turned Japan's export restrictions crisis

into an opportunity to increase the localization rate of materials, parts, and equipment industries.

Our fight against COVID-19 without a full lockdown was also clearly our achievement.

Every time there was a crisis,

we overcame it and turned it into an opportunity for leap.

That is Korea's resilience.

It was possible because each and every citizen

stood together.

Now again,

we can do it.

We can turn crises into opportunities.

? Conclusion

Dear respected citizens,

This presidential election

is a decision on "who to entrust with Korea in crisis."

In this era of great transformation, turbulence, and crisis,

the president of Korea

is required to have concrete policies and bold actions.

More than ever,

a leader with rich experience and proven competence is needed.

I am a former child laborer turned lawyer,

who has successfully served twice as mayor of Seongnam and as governor of Gyeonggi Province.

I have overcome numerous resistances and slanders from vested interests,

and turned political crises into opportunities by facing them head-on.

Just as I overcame severe poverty, disability, adversity, and crises in my life,

I will overcome Korea's crises together with proud citizens.

I will be a strong, capable economic and people's president.

With flexible drive and pragmatic attitude,

I will overcome the four major crises

and open the "Era of National Great Leap."

I will move "forward" with the people.

I will work "properly" for the people.

Happy New Year.

Thank you.

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