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| On the 15th, three days before President Moon Jae-in’s New Year’s press conference, officials are busy preparing for a press conference at the Chunchu Hall of the Blue House. 2021.1.15/News1 © News1 Reporter Lee Kwang-ho |
At the New Year’s press conference on the 18th, President Moon Jae-in is interested in how he will reveal his views on major issues such as real estate issues, former Presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye’s pardon, new coronavirus infection (Corona 19) vaccination, and prosecution reform.
President Moon will hold a press conference for the New Year 2021 at the Cheongwadae Chunchu Hall at 10 am on this day. As in the previous case, this press conference is in the form of a’press conference without script,’ in which President Moon directly appoints an interrogator, so various inquiries on issues of high public interest are expected to pour out.
First of all, questions related to the real estate issue, which is considered the biggest cause of the decline in the government approval rate of President Moon, are expected. At a press conference at the beginning of last year, President Moon promised to’hold the price of the house’, and the government poured out various measures, but public sentiment sharply worsened as last year’s house price surge and the cheonsei crisis overlapped.
In response, President Moon made his first public apology at this year’s New Year’s speech, saying, “It is a very regrettable heart to the people who are disheartened by the difficulties of housing.” It also promised to quickly come up with a supply plan, suggesting supply expansion as a real estate policy direction. Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Byun Chang-heum also announced that he would announce supply measures before the Lunar New Year holidays.
At the press conference, questions about the possible changes in taxation policies, such as the details of real estate supply measures, transfer tax and comprehensive real estate tax, and the direction are expected to arise.
In addition, attention is focused on President Moon’s position regarding the special pardon of former Presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye, who have swept the political world since the new year. In an interview with News 1 on the 1st, Lee Nak-yeon, the head of the Democratic Democratic Party, said in an interview with News 1 on the 1st, “When the appropriate time comes, I will suggest pardoning the two former presidents (Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak) to President Moon.”
Representative Lee picked the time of the case after the sentence was confirmed. Former President Lee was sentenced to 17 years in prison last October, and former President Park was also sentenced to 22 years in prison in the Supreme Court reappeal on the 14th. First, the conditions are met.
However, the Blue House only mentioned that when Park’s sentence was confirmed, it was not appropriate to comment on the pardon as soon as the Supreme Court sentence was issued, but did not come up with a specific position.
The opposition is actively responding to the amnesty, but public opinion is not friendly. President Moon is so cautious enough to replace the word with’embracing’ in the New Year’s address when the’integration’ mentioned in the New Year’s meeting on the 7th was interpreted as a pardon. Representative Lee, who first raised the amnesty theory, faced a headwind and recorded a major decline in preference for the next leader.
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| President Moon Jae-in is presenting a New Year’s address in the Blue House main building on the morning of the 11th, containing the direction of the New Year’s government administration. January 11, 2021/News 1 © News1 Reporter Lee Kwang-ho |
The conflict between Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae and Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol and reform of the prosecution are also of interest. In December of last year, for the first time in history, Minister Chu made a strong request for disciplinary action by the prosecutor general, but the disciplinary action was virtually missed when the court cited Yoon’s request to suspend the execution of disciplinary measures.
The Cheong Wa Dae is in the position that if the Minister of Justice proposes a disciplinary action, it will only enforce it, but it is difficult to be free from the political responsibility of aiding or tolerating Minister Chu’s “eject”. Accordingly, it is likely that a question will be raised asking President Moon’s perception of the conflict between Minister Chu and President Yoon, which has been causing a lot of controversy.
Also, as this year is the year when the Moon Jae-in administration’s representative prosecution reform pledges, such as the Office of Crime Investigation for High-ranking Officials and Adjustment of Prosecutors’ Rights, are being implemented, questions about the establishment of institutionalized prosecution reform are expected.
The vaccine problem, which will be the key to overcoming Corona 19 and economic recovery, is also a hot issue. President Moon said in his New Year’s address that he will get free vaccinations to all citizens starting next month. The quarantine authorities have secured 56 million vaccines so far, and it is reported that a contract for 10 million people with NovaVax is ahead.
However, as the time of securing and vaccinating vaccines was delayed compared to other countries, the government’s responsibility was raised. Heading by Prime Minister Jeong Sye-gyun, the government actively refuted the theory of responsibility, saying that’the timing of the formation of group immunity is more important than the time when vaccination begins’, but it is noteworthy as President Moon has never expressed a related opinion.
Peace on the Korean Peninsula is a current issue that cannot be turned away. President Moon suggested that after the 2019 Hanoi No Deal, cooperation should be started and gradually expanded within the framework of sanctions between the two Koreas. Specifically, it suggested corona 19 quarantine cooperation, such as the’Northeast Asia quarantine and health cooperation body’, humanitarian assistance to North Korea, and permitting individual tourism to North Korea. President Moon confirmed this position again in this New Year’s address.
However, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un dismissed such efforts as a’non-essential issue’ in the report on the 8th Labor Party Conference, which was released on the 9th. However, he said, “depending on the attitudes of the South Korean authorities, North-South relations will be able to return to a new starting point for peace and prosperity in the near future, as in the spring days of three years ago, according to the wishes of the Korean people.”
In the United States, the upcoming Biden administration could lead to a new turn in North American relations. As a result, attention is focused on whether to present a way to resolve the stalemate dialogue between the two Koreas and the two Koreas with President Moon remaining in office for more than one year.