Part 5 Meeting with Yoon: "All Efforts on Livelihood Economy... Terrorism Suppresses Freedom" (Comprehensive)

At Yeongbingwan, Key National Figures Including 5 Department Heads Attend '2024 New Year Meeting'
Diagnosing Economic Crisis, "Overcome Together with the People... Devote All Efforts to Livelihood Economy"
Wishing Lee Jae-myung a Speedy Recovery, "Terrorism Suppresses Human Freedom"
Opposition Party Fully Absent Due to Attack on Lee Jae-myung, Fails to Deliver 'Unity' Message

President Yoon Suk-yeol held the '2024 New Year's Greeting Meeting' on the morning of the 3rd at the Blue House State Guest House with five key figures (the Speaker of the National Assembly, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court, the Prime Minister, and the Chairman of the National Election Commission) and other major national officials, stating, "With an even more extraordinary resolve, I will focus all my efforts solely on the people and the livelihood economy." He reiterated the policy of 'prioritizing livelihood management' that has continued since the end of last year, expressing his determination to overcome the economic crisis.

However, as the opposition party leadership was absent again this year following last year, there were limitations in conveying a message of 'unity.' Regarding the assault on Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, which occurred the day before, he emphasized, "Terrorism is an act of violence against the victim, a criminal act that suppresses human freedom," and added, "We must comfort the victim with one united heart and respond firmly with the same resolve."

President Yoon Suk-yeol is speaking at the '2024 New Year's Greeting Meeting' held at the Blue House's Yeongbingwan on the 3rd. Photo by Yonhap News

In his New Year's greeting, President Yoon emphasized that the domestic and international conditions over the past year were very difficult, but that the people were able to overcome the crisis by joining forces. In particular, he said, "In the new year, I will focus all my efforts solely on the people and the livelihood economy with an even more extraordinary resolve." He also expressed a message wishing for a speedy recovery to Lee Jae-myung. He condemned the assault on Lee the previous day as 'terrorism,' calling it "the enemy of all who aspire to a free society."

Originally, Lee was scheduled to attend the event that day. The Presidential Office sent an invitation to Lee last month, and Lee accepted it immediately. At that time, the Democratic Party also expressed the hope that "the New Year's meeting would be an event for national unity and overcoming the livelihood economic crisis." It would have been their first meeting in about two months since President Yoon's policy speech to the National Assembly on October 31 of last year, raising expectations in political circles that a message of 'unity' might emerge from the New Year's meeting. Moreover, considering that last year's New Year's greeting meeting was a 'half-hearted' event due to the controversy over 'email notification,' a brief conversation between President Yoon and Lee might have been possible.

However, the assault on Lee the day before created a variable. The Democratic Party announced in the afternoon of the previous day, "Due to the terrorism against Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, we regret to inform you that we will inevitably be unable to attend the New Year's greeting ceremony with the President scheduled for tomorrow." On the morning of the event, the Democratic Party held an emergency parliamentary meeting to discuss countermeasures.

The Justice Party, which had already announced its absence, also did not appear. The Justice Party had notified its absence in response to President Yoon's announcement that he would exercise a veto on the Double Special Investigation Act (special investigation laws on Daejang-dong and Mrs. Kim Geon-hee) passed on the 28th of last month. Earlier, the government had sent invitations to the New Year's greeting meeting to three Justice Party leaders, including Kim Jun-woo, the Emergency Committee Chairman of the Justice Party. In a recent radio interview, Chairman Kim expressed discomfort, saying, "If the veto is exercised immediately, wouldn't it be strange to eat at the main table with Mrs. Kim Geon-hee at the New Year's meeting?" Amid ongoing tensions between the ruling and opposition parties over the re-vote on the Double Special Investigation Act, the ruling party insists on a prompt re-vote, while the opposition is choosing a timing favorable for the vote.

Meanwhile, considering the difficult economic conditions faced by the people, no celebratory performances were held at the event. Instead, the children's choir and vocal soldiers from the Ministry of National Defense sang the national anthem, and the event was conducted simply. Attention was also drawn by the attendance of representatives of the people who brought hope and warmth to our society. They included Guk Ji-seong, a 17-year-old student who won the President's Award at the Student Science Invention Competition for the 'Sudden Acceleration Detection Device,' nurse Lee Won-jung (32), who did not hesitate to rescue a citizen who lost consciousness and collapsed, and Army Captain Kang Tae-kwon (33).

President Yoon Suk-yeol is saluting the national flag along with Kim Jin-pyo, Speaker of the National Assembly; Lee Jong-seok, Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court; Cho Hee-dae, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court; and Choi Tae-won, Chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, at the '2024 New Year's Greeting Meeting' held at the Blue House State Guest House on the 3rd.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

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