President Moon: "Supplementary Budget, Speed is Vital... Ensure Expansion of Participation Rate in COVID-19 Hospitals and Clinics"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] On the 3rd, President Moon Jae-in urged the National Assembly to swiftly process the supplementary budget (추경), emphasizing that "speed is of the essence."

Park Kyung-mi, the Blue House spokesperson, conveyed that President Moon stated through a staff meeting, "The supplementary budget primarily aims to provide urgent support to small business owners, so speed is of the essence."

Additionally, President Moon instructed, "With the reorganization of the COVID-19 testing and treatment system, from today, ensure that local clinics participating in COVID-19 testing and treatment operate well and that participation rates increase. Also, widely inform the public so that the new system can be firmly established."

Meanwhile, a senior Blue House official responded to reporters' questions about whether First Lady Kim Jung-sook's visit to the pyramids during her trip should have been kept confidential, stating, "It was made private based on consultations between the two countries," and added, "Refusing Egypt's polite request regarding the visit would have been a diplomatic faux pas."

The official said, "We recommended visiting Gyeongbokgung Palace to the state guests visiting our country, but what if they refuse? Please consider it from their perspective. The pyramids are a symbol of Egypt, and it is natural for them to want to show their most proud world cultural heritage to visiting heads of state."

On the same day, Tak Hyun-min, the Blue House Protocol Secretary, posted on his Facebook that the reason the President and First Lady could not visit together was, "Although the President had important schedules such as the summit and matters related to the K9 self-propelled howitzer, it was also because it was obvious that there would be slander and distortion regarding the visit to the historical sites in Egypt."

When asked about the connection between keeping First Lady Kim’s pyramid visit schedule confidential and the 'slander and distortion' mentioned by Secretary Tak, a Blue House official reaffirmed the previous response, saying, "As mentioned, the decision on disclosure was made through consultations with Egypt."

Regarding Japan’s push to register the Sado Mine as a UNESCO World Heritage site, the official stated, "We plan to implement systematic and comprehensive responses while actively cooperating with the international community, centered on a public-private joint task force (TF) composed of related agencies and experts."

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