Moon Jae-in: "The Only Time Korea Entered the Top 10 GDP Was During Roh Moo-hyun and Moon Governments"

Attendance at the 5th Anniversary Event of the September 19 Pyongyang Joint Declaration
"Security and Economic Performance Were Good Under the Progressive Government"

Former President Moon Jae-in stated on the 19th, "It is time to break free from the fabricated myth that 'security is better handled by conservative governments' and 'the economy is better under conservative governments,'" adding, "The only times South Korea's GDP (Gross Domestic Product) entered the world's top 10 were during the Roh Moo-hyun and Moon Jae-in administrations."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the same day, during his greeting speech at the 5th anniversary event of the September 19 Pyongyang Joint Declaration held at the 63 Building in Yeouido, former President Moon asserted, "It can be confirmed that under progressive governments led by Kim Dae-jung, Roh Moo-hyun, and Moon Jae-in, both security and economic performances were outstanding."

This marked his first official schedule in Seoul since leaving office, where he criticized the security and economic policies and directions of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration.

Former President Moon emphasized, "When looking at past administrations from the Kim Young-sam government, which began the civilian government era, up to the Yoon Suk-yeol government from a macro perspective, the economic performance during periods of relatively peaceful inter-Korean relations, like in a relay race, was always better than during times without such peace."

He continued, "Although we say we are a top 10 global economic power, the actual times when our economic scale, that is GDP, entered the world's top 10 were only during the Roh Moo-hyun and Moon Jae-in administrations," adding, "Last year, our economy ranked 13th globally, having fallen out of the top 10."

He also added, "Almost all economic indicators such as export growth, trade surplus scale, foreign exchange reserves, inflation, stock index, and foreign investment were better during the Moon Jae-in administration than they are now."

Former President Moon said, "During the two years before COVID-19, the Moon Jae-in government recorded the largest fiscal surplus in history, and the fiscal deficits during the pandemic, like in all other countries, were to protect the safety and livelihoods of the people," pointing out, "In fact, fiscal deficits have grown even larger under the current administration, and the fundamental difference lies in the causes of the deficits being a decrease in tax revenue due to economic downturn and tax cuts for the wealthy."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Regarding the current administration's foreign policy, he said, "If diplomacy becomes excessively biased toward partisan diplomacy and loses balance, we may lose more in security and economy than we gain," stressing, "A delicate diplomatic strategy that values alliances to the maximum while practicing balanced diplomacy is necessary."

Regarding inter-Korean relations, he expressed, "It is heartbreaking and deeply distressing to think about the current inter-Korean relations, which are so broken that one wonders if there was ever a better day," adding, "It is truly regrettable that further progress could not be made beyond the Pyongyang Joint Declaration."

On the ruling party's moves to scrap the inter-Korean military agreement, former President Moon argued, "Even now, when inter-Korean relations are again collapsing, the inter-Korean military agreement serves as the last safety pin preventing military clashes between the two Koreas," warning, "Scrapping the military agreement would be an irresponsible act that removes the last safety pin."

He emphasized, "Among all past administrations, only the Roh Moo-hyun and Moon Jae-in governments experienced no military clashes."

The event was attended by key figures from the Moon Jae-in administration, including former Prime Ministers Lee Nak-yeon and Chung Sye-kyun, former Blue House Chiefs of Staff Noh Young-min and Yoo Young-min, former Blue House Policy Chief Kim Sang-jo, former Special Advisor on Unification, Foreign Affairs, and Security Moon Jung-in, former Blue House spokesperson Park Kyung-mi, and former Blue House Protocol Secretary Tak Hyun-min.

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