Yoon: "If We Don't Widen the Tech Super-Gap, We'll Be Caught Up"

Detailed Policy Operation Plan Urged at State Council Meeting
"6.6 Trillion Won Saemangeum Cheong Investment Since Government Launch"
"Sales Diplomacy and Deregulation Made It Possible"
Yoon "Will Continue to Support Dynamic Business Activities"

President Yoon Suk-yeol warned on the 27th, "Our technology is currently outstanding, but if we fail to widen or maintain the super-gap, competing countries can catch up." President Yoon asked the Cabinet members to consider detailed policy implementation plans, saying, "The people, companies, and government have cooperated to come this far."

On the morning of the same day, President Yoon presided over a Cabinet meeting at the Yongsan Presidential Office building and gave this instruction in his closing remarks, saying, "Make decisions based on common sense and push policies in the right direction."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

In particular, President Yoon highly praised the solid foundation of the domestic industry, saying, "There are hardly any countries in the world that have all the core manufacturing industries such as semiconductors, automobiles, shipbuilding, and petrochemicals." He analyzed that Korea has established a foundation not only in advanced fields such as secondary batteries, digital, and bio but also in software. Nevertheless, he ordered to further strengthen technological competitiveness in the global market. "If we fail to widen or maintain the super-gap, competing countries can catch up," he said, adding, "I ask the Cabinet members to take a broader and longer view and set the right direction on how to lead their ministries."

On this day, President Yoon also brought up the results of the domestic industry achieved through sales diplomacy and regulatory reform. He explained, "Since the Saemangeum Development Agency was established in 2013, the scale of investment attraction in the Saemangeum National Industrial Complex was 1.5 trillion won over nine years, but after our government took office, 30 companies decided on investments exceeding four times that amount, totaling 6.6 trillion won." He further elaborated, "Such large-scale investment attraction was possible because we drastically eased regulations and created an institutional environment needed by companies, along with efforts in sales diplomacy and improving Korea-US and Korea-Japan relations."

He emphasized in the same context, "We will support companies to operate freely and dynamically anywhere in the country, not just in Saemangeum," and urged the Cabinet members, "Please devote all your efforts to stabilizing people’s livelihoods and economic recovery so that the public can feel the fruits of change."

President Yoon also requested, regarding the 111 memorandums of understanding (MOUs) obtained during his recent Vietnam visit, "Relevant ministries should make thorough follow-up measures to achieve results promptly." He then pointed out the economic cooperation areas between the two countries following the state visit to Vietnam, stating, "We will expand defense cooperation with Vietnam and actively support Vietnam’s coastal security capabilities."

He reiterated the willingness to share responses to North Korea’s nuclear issue with Vietnam. President Yoon evaluated, "It is significant that the Vietnamese government agreed to cooperate with us in responding to North Korea’s nuclear threat and to work together to uphold the free navigation order and international norms in the Indo-Pacific region." In line with this, he instructed, "We will create a cooperation model that combines Vietnam’s abundant mineral resources with our excellent processing technology to further stabilize the supply chain of our key industries," and "Conduct prompt intergovernmental consultations to resolve difficulties faced by our companies operating in Vietnam."

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