President-elect Yoon: "Selecting National Tasks with Pragmatism... The Most Important Thing Is the Economy" (Comprehensive)

Attended Transition Team Workshop... Stayed Through Speech After Opening Remarks

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol emphasized that pragmatism and prioritizing the people's interests should be the guiding principles in selecting national tasks.

On the 26th, at the 'Seoul Startup Hub' conference hall in Mapo-gu, Seoul, during a workshop held by the Presidential Transition Committee, President-elect Yoon stated in his opening remarks, "We must properly take over the current administration's work and set the national tasks that need to be prioritized as the government launches," adding, "The most important things are pragmatism and the people's interests."

The workshop was organized to exchange opinions on the national philosophy, vision, and core agenda before the respective divisions began preparing the national tasks in earnest. Each division of the transition committee must submit a draft of the national tasks to the Planning and Coordination Division by the 30th.

President-elect Yoon said, "Regarding the mistakes made by the current government, we need to carefully assess why these issues occurred, and for the things we must continue to inherit, we should select them well for the people's benefit and carry them forward to the next government." He also requested, "When receiving briefings from government officials, please create an atmosphere where government officials can confidently express their opinions on an equal footing."

He continued, "There are two meanings to holding this workshop. The most important thing is the economy, and the next government has the responsibility to further advance and sophisticate our industrial structure," adding, "It seems that through this workshop, the transition committee thinks beyond their specialized fields to consider the common task of national interest and the people's benefit."

Although President-elect Yoon visited the workshop venue to encourage participants, he stayed after his remarks to listen to the lectures.

At the workshop, Kim Hyung-tae, Chief Economist at Kim & Chang, gave a lecture on "Global Macroeconomic Changes and Korea's Economic Response Measures," and Bae Soon-min, Director of KT Convergence Technology Institute, spoke on "Digital Transformation from Artificial Intelligence (AI) to the Metaverse."

About 200 people attended, including Ahn Cheol-soo, Chairman of the Transition Committee; Kwon Young-se, Vice Chairman; Park Joo-sun, Chairman of the Presidential Inauguration Preparation Committee; Kim Han-gil, Chairman of the National Integration Committee; Kim Byung-joon, Chairman of the Regional Balanced Development Committee; transition committee members; and expert and working-level members. Planning Committee Chairman Won Hee-ryong and some transition committee members who tested positive for COVID-19 did not attend.

This was the first time since the transition committee's launch that its members gathered in one place.

In his opening remarks, Chairman Ahn said, "Public officials have worked with conviction and in what they believed to be the right direction, but we believe we have the responsibility to find the path that previous governments have never taken but must take for the people."

He added, "If we follow the same path as previous governments, the results will inevitably be the same. Through this workshop, I ask you to prepare better and be remembered by the people as the most successful transition committee."

Vice Chairman Kwon Young-se, who had been in self-quarantine due to COVID-19 infection, announced his return to activities, saying, "I will work hard to support the best transition committee," and "I will work even harder to make up for the seven days lost."

Chairman Kim Han-gil also said, "I hope everyone here never forgets that the more wisdom we squeeze out, the more comfortable the country and the people will become."

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