President Moon: "Prepare for Daily Recovery in an Orderly Manner... Fully Committed to Stabilizing Living Costs" (Comprehensive)

Published 05 Apr.2022 10:49(KST)

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] President Moon Jae-in ordered on the 5th to prepare for the recovery of daily life in an orderly manner, stating that "Omicron has passed its peak and the decline has continued for three weeks."

On the same day, President Moon presided over a Cabinet meeting via video conference at the Blue House and stated, "The government will focus on managing high-risk groups while reorganizing quarantine and medical systems into routine response systems to prepare for the recovery of daily life in an orderly manner."

President Moon said, "The international community also expects Korea to become a leading country in reducing COVID-19 to an endemic level and is paying attention to our daily life recovery strategy," adding, "I ask the public to unite their efforts so that we can quickly move toward complete recovery of daily life by taking greater responsibility for voluntary quarantine as most quarantine measures are lifted."

He also called for stabilizing living costs. President Moon said, "As the war in Ukraine prolongs, energy prices, raw material prices, and grain prices are soaring worldwide," and instructed, "The government has made every effort to stabilize prices so far, but we must now work with even greater determination to minimize the domestic impact of external factors and focus on stabilizing living costs."

He continued, "The government has announced additional measures to stabilize prices, such as expanding the scope of fuel tax cuts, providing fuel subsidies for freight trucks, and expanding the application of tariff quotas," adding, "Each ministry should promptly implement follow-up measures, and especially make special efforts to support low-income and vulnerable groups who are increasingly burdened by rising prices."

While praising the response to livestock infectious diseases so far, he also instructed to ensure even greater thoroughness. President Moon said, "Even amid the long war against COVID-19, the government has devoted its utmost efforts to responding to livestock infectious diseases such as avian influenza and African swine fever," and praised, "As a result, the number of avian influenza cases has been reduced to less than half compared to last winter, and since October last year, there have been no cases of swine fever at pig farms."

He added, "Since migratory birds have not all moved north yet and the activity of wild boars increases in spring, with infected wild boars moving south, the situation is not yet safe. Therefore, related ministries should not let their guard down until the very end and do their best," he urged.