Yoon: "Reflecting on One Year in Office, Will Accelerate Further... No Self-Praise Allowed"

Yongsan Children's Park Media Preview Followed by Luncheon Meeting
President Yoon: "Will Reflect on Justice, Security, and Social Safety"
Urges Reporters: "Let's Create Social Change Together"

President Yoon Suk-yeol, who will mark his first anniversary in office on the 10th, stated on the 2nd, "If there are areas where the pace of change has been slow, we will accelerate the pace in the next year, and if there are directions of change that need to be adjusted, we will make those adjustments."

After a media preview event at Yongsan Children's Park, President Yoon held a luncheon meeting with the press corps and said, "Before I knew it, I was receiving both criticism and encouragement, wondering when the first year would come, and now it has already been a year." Initially, only Chief Presidential Secretary Kim Dae-gi and other aides were scheduled to attend the meeting, but President Yoon made a surprise appearance without prior notice.

President Yoon mentioned, "Before I knew it, I was receiving both criticism and encouragement, wondering when the first year would come, and now it has already been a year. Beyond many achievements and accomplishments, if you look for them and organize them, there are some."

He continued, "But what does regime change mean over the past year? Changing the regime is driven by the desire to change the country and society. After the regime changes and the government takes office, we need to reflect on how much and in what ways our country and society have changed, how vibrant and warmer they have become, how much more we can give dreams to future generations, how much more just and fair society has become, and how much more our security and social safety have been ensured."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Regarding the first anniversary press conference, President Yoon said, "There is a question of whether to hold a press briefing or conference for the first anniversary, but I am considering it."

He added, "I told our Yongsan staff that the first anniversary should never be a self-praising event listing what we have done and achieved," emphasizing, "It would be disrespectful to the public to hold an event where we just present materials boasting about achievements."

He also urged reporters, "I hope that going forward, we can create changes in the country together, not by asking for your help, but by working together to bring about societal change."

He mentioned the doorstepping (informal Q&A on the way to work) that was suspended after November last year. President Yoon said, "At first, after taking office, I met with you every day, but since we stopped, don't you feel a bit disappointed?" which drew laughter in the room.

He continued, "Actually, doing doorstepping in the morning became a habit, and even now, I wake up very early," adding, "So I screen all the news articles. When I did doorstepping, I would pick out questions that reporters might ask in the morning and by 6 a.m., I was already on the phone with chiefs and secretaries," sharing an anecdote.

He said, "'What is going on with this article? How should I respond?' I would ask," and added, "Although doorstepping is gone, because it started that way, even now, our chiefs, secretaries, and administrative officers at Yongsan suffer from my barrage of questions from the crack of dawn."

President Yoon also said, "There have naturally been many shortcomings, and I hope you will join me," and reiterated, "I will create opportunities like this often."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

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