Yoon: "Fake peace, Geoya (巨野), broken system... I will do my best"

Live Remarks Reflecting on One Year Before Inauguration at Cabinet Meeting
Criticizing Past Government's Anti-Market Policies, Expressing Concerns Over Jeonse and Stock Fraud
"Pushing Socially Vulnerable into the Abyss of Despair"... Emphasizing Policies for the People

President Yoon Suk-yeol pointed out the fake peace that relies on the goodwill of the enemy on the 9th, stating, "It will take time to restore the collapsed system and achieve tangible results." As President Yoon marks his first anniversary in office tomorrow, he shared his reflections on one year of state administration, mentioning the incompetence of the previous government and the situation of the giant opposition party (Geoya). He expressed his intention to focus on law, principles, and national interests in all domestic and international issues, including diplomacy, and to carry out his administration accordingly.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the morning of the same day, President Yoon presided over a Cabinet meeting at the Yongsan Presidential Office, saying, "Our government has respected the rule-based international order over the past year and fulfilled responsibilities and contributions commensurate with our economic capabilities in the international community." He reviewed the major activities of the Yoon administration and encouraged Cabinet members to follow up on related measures. Considering that President Yoon decided not to hold a first-anniversary press conference, his remarks at the Cabinet meeting, broadcast live, are interpreted as a public message outlining the direction of state administration in the second year of his administration.

President Yoon evaluated past diplomatic schedules and achievements point by point, first expressing his determination to "place the economy at the center of diplomacy," but he emphasized more the difficulties the government faced in promoting core state tasks over the past year. He criticized the previous government's state administration in detail, including rental fraud, drug crimes, and failures in North Korea policy. Regarding the increasingly controversial rental fraud, he said, "The anti-market and abnormal policies of the past government, which caused rapid housing price increases and market disruption, became the soil for rental fraud." He added that various investment frauds, such as in stocks and virtual assets, occurred as a result, stating, "Ordinary citizens and the younger generation have suffered irreparable damage and are in despair."

He also pointed out the previous government's poor monitoring system, such as the "dissolution of the Securities Crime Joint Task Force." President Yoon stated, "The weakening of the financial market's monitoring system against unfair practices allowed virtual asset crimes and financial investment frauds to run rampant," and criticized, "The disabling of the monitoring and detection system that relies on the goodwill of criminals has pushed countless socially vulnerable people into the abyss of despair."

He mentioned the weakening of law enforcement on drug organizations and distribution during the previous government's prosecution reform process. He then evaluated, "Since our government took office, we have restored law enforcement on major drug crimes and established a joint investigation headquarters between the prosecution and police to create a drug-free country."

He also made remarks implying that reform and other state tasks pursued by the Yoon administration have been hampered by the "giant opposition party," saying, "It was difficult to organize necessary systems due to obstruction by the Geoya legislature." He pointed out that the three major reforms requiring legislation?labor, pensions, and education?have all been slowed down due to opposition from the opposition party, and delivered a message to garner public consensus, stating, "It takes tremendous time and effort to rebuild what has collapsed."

He did not omit the previous government's security measures that relied solely on North Korea's goodwill. Mentioning the resumption of the Korea-U.S. joint military exercises, which had been suspended for several years, changes to the Korea-U.S. Mutual Defense Treaty based on conventional military power, opposition to military resolution of conflicts and changes by force, he emphasized, "It goes without saying that these are necessary and beneficial for our security, economy, companies, and citizens."

In addition, he highlighted the importance of civil defense drills, which had been discontinued since August 2017, early in the Moon Jae-in administration. President Yoon pointed out, "Civil defense drills were not conducted due to a security perspective relying on fake peace," and added, "Considering the six years of non-implementation, the government decided to first start drills at public institutions and then normalize them into drills involving the entire population as the next step."

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