Yoon Meets Five Key Officials, Vows "To Devote All Efforts to Livelihood Economy with Extraordinary Determination"

At Yeongbingwan, Key National Figures Including 5 Department Heads Attend '2024 New Year's Reception'
Diagnosing Economic Crisis: "Overcome Together with the People... Devote All Efforts to Livelihood Economy"
Opposition Party Fully Absent Due to Attack on Lee Jae-myung, Democratic Party Leader... 'Unity' Message Fails

President Yoon Suk-yeol held a New Year's greeting meeting on the 3rd with key national figures including the heads of the five branches of government, stating, "With an even more extraordinary resolve, I will focus solely on the people and devote all my efforts to the livelihood economy." He reiterated the policy of 'prioritizing the livelihood of the people' that has continued since the end of last year, expressing his determination to overcome the economic crisis together with the people. However, as the opposition party leadership was absent again this year as last year, there were limitations in conveying a message of 'unity.'

On the morning of the same day, President Yoon held the '2024 New Year's Greeting Meeting' at the Blue House State Guest House with the five key figures (Speaker of the National Assembly, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court, Prime Minister, and Chairperson of the National Election Commission), reaffirming his commitment to state affairs and exchanging well-wishes. In his New Year's greeting, President Yoon emphasized that the domestic and international conditions over the past year were very difficult, but that by joining forces with the people, they were able to overcome the crisis. In particular, he said, "In the new year, I will devote all my efforts to the livelihood economy, focusing solely on the people with an even more extraordinary resolve."

President Yoon Suk-yeol is attending the '2024 New Year's Greeting Meeting' held at the Blue House's State Guest House on the 3rd and listening to the toast speech by Speaker Kim Jin-pyo. From the left, counterclockwise: No Tae-ak, Chairman of the National Election Commission; Lee Jong-seok, Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court; Speaker Kim; President Yoon; Cho Hee-dae, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court; Han Duck-soo, Prime Minister; Choi Jae-hae, Chairman of the Board of Audit and Inspection.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Originally, the event was scheduled to be attended by Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea. The Presidential Office sent an invitation to Lee last month, which he promptly accepted. At that time, the Democratic Party also expressed hope that the New Year's meeting would be an event for national unity and overcoming the livelihood economic crisis.

This would have been a reunion after about two months since President Yoon's policy speech to the National Assembly on October 31 last year, raising expectations in political circles that a message of 'unity' might emerge through the New Year's meeting. Moreover, considering that last year's New Year's greeting meeting was a 'half-hearted' event due to controversy over 'email notification,' a brief conversation between President Yoon and Lee Jae-myung could have taken place.

However, a variable arose when Lee was attacked the day before. The Democratic Party announced in the afternoon of the previous day, "The Democratic Party of Korea will inevitably not attend the New Year's greeting ceremony with the President scheduled for tomorrow due to the terrorist attack on leader Lee Jae-myung." 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 against the double special prosecution law (Daejang-dong and Kim Geon-hee special prosecution law) 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 party's emergency committee chairman. 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 Kim Geon-hee?" Amid ongoing tensions between the ruling and opposition parties over the reapproval of the double special prosecution law, the ruling party insists on prompt reapproval, while the opposition is choosing a timing favorable for voting.

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

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