President Yoon's First Week in Office: Keywords 'Unity, Livelihood, Global Citizenship'

Next Week's Schedule Also a 'Gaenghaenggun'... National Assembly Policy Speech, 5·18 Memorial Ceremony, and Korea-US Summit Meeting

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] President Yoon Suk-yeol has been taking an active stance since his first week in office, presiding over various cabinet meetings, conducting on-site inspections, and attending international conferences. The keywords defining President Yoon's first week are integration, economy, and global citizenship.

According to the Presidential Office on the 15th, President Yoon has been maintaining a rigorous schedule since his inauguration day on the 10th, including receiving foreign envoys from major countries, presiding over senior secretaries' meetings and an extraordinary cabinet meeting, and attending the Global COVID-19 Summit.

President Yoon's major activities immediately after his inauguration are evaluated as proceeding according to the keywords emphasized in the presidential election and inauguration speeches. The first emphasized keyword is "integration." During his inauguration speech, he mentioned freedom 35 times but did not mention integration even once, which drew criticism from some political circles. During the last presidential election, he emphasized national integration, and during the transition period, he established a National Integration Committee and held a "Listening Table" inviting various social sectors, but in his inauguration speech, he did not mention the value of integration at all.

In response, on the 11th, the day after his inauguration, when asked by reporters about his official first day at the Yongsan Presidential Office building, President Yoon made a determined statement. He said, "Some people pointed out that integration was missing from my inauguration speech yesterday, but integration is so obvious..." He added, "Integration is the process of our political system itself being a process of national integration," and emphasized, "I was talking about what value integration should aim for. Please understand it that way." Furthermore, at the first senior secretaries' meeting held that day, President Yoon reiterated that politics is a process of integration. It is also reported that President Yoon is considering institutionalizing the National Integration Committee as a permanent organization. To this end, a presidential decree is expected to be enacted to promote national integration to overcome various crises in our society.

President Yoon is taking steps to respond to the global economic crisis and stabilize prices and people's livelihoods. Among his economic-related activities, the most notable is the supplementary budget bill (추경) for compensating losses of small business owners and self-employed persons due to COVID-19 quarantine measures. This supplementary budget is not only the largest ever at 59.4 trillion won but also is being approved faster than expected. During the transition period, the COVID-19 special committee refrained from specifying the exact supplementary budget amount, saying it was a matter for the new government to decide, leading to speculation that the supplementary budget might be delayed. However, at the extraordinary cabinet meeting held on the 12th, President Yoon emphasized, "If the government restricts the exercise of people's property rights and does not properly compensate for losses, it is difficult to consider it a true rule-of-law state."

President Yoon also presided over a macro-financial situation review meeting at the International Financial Center the previous day, checking the economic situation and major risk factors with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho, Bank of Korea Governor Lee Chang-yong, and private experts. He declared, "It is important to manage expected inflation stably to stabilize prices," and "We will prioritize macroeconomic and livelihood stability as the top policy priority of the new government." He intends to increase fiscal spending to raise potential growth rates while securing fiscal soundness through expenditure restructuring.

President Yoon also emphasized the duty as a "global citizen," mentioned seven times in his inauguration speech. He attended the 2nd Global COVID-19 Summit, his first multilateral diplomatic stage, via video conference, stating, "We will continue to contribute more to the international community's efforts to end COVID-19 and fulfill our responsibilities and roles," and announced, "We will additionally contribute 300 million dollars to the COVID-19 response international cooperation initiative (ACT-A, Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator)." Referring to global citizenship, President Yoon urged solidarity and philanthropy, saying, "I believe that by joining forces, we can solve domestic and international crises and challenges."

Next week, President Yoon will continue with significant schedules such as the National Assembly policy speech (on the 16th), attending the May 18th commemoration ceremony, and the Korea-US summit. In the National Assembly policy speech, he is expected to appeal for the passage of the supplementary budget bill to help small business owners and self-employed persons who suffered from COVID-19 business restrictions recover. At the May 18th Democratization Movement memorial ceremony held at the Gwangju May 18th Democratic Cemetery, President Yoon is expected to emphasize the inclusion of the May 18th spirit in the preamble of the Constitution and the value of national integration.

President Yoon will meet with US President Joe Biden, who will visit Korea on the 20th, on the 21st to discuss strengthening the comprehensive alliance. A key official from the Presidential Office said, "(President Yoon and President Biden) are likely to discuss the Korea-US joint response strategy and situation management plan regarding North Korea's provocations. They will also coordinate cooperation measures between the two countries focusing on economic security, supply chains, and emerging technologies."

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