Yoon lauds foreign policies as top feat in 1st year of presidency

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

National

Sat, September 23, 2023 | 05:45

Politics

Yoon lauds foreign policies as top feat in 1st year of presidency

Posted : 2023-05-09 15:38

Updated : 2023-05-10 09:28

President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the presidential office in Yongsan District, Seoul, Tuesday. Joint Press Corps

President blames previous administration for social problems

By Nam Hyun-woo

President Yoon Suk Yeol praised his diplomatic and security policies, Tuesday, for bringing "the biggest changes" to South Korea during his first year in office.

"As I recall this time a year ago when I took office as the president, there had been no area that had undergone as significant changes as foreign affairs and national security," Yoon said during a Cabinet meeting, a day before the one-year anniversary of his presidency.

The Cabinet meeting speech was televised across the country as Yoon reviewed his achievements in the past year as the president. Instead, he is not likely to hold a press conference on the occasion of the first anniversary, sources at the presidential office said.

While trumpeting his foreign-affairs-related activities as the top achievement of the past year, he listed the reinforced alliance between South Korea and the United States, improved South Korea-Japan relations, trilateral security cooperation between Seoul, Tokyo and Washington, and foreign investments that were promised during his overseas trips as noticeable outcomes of his diplomatic and national security policies.

Referring to his latest summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Sunday, Yoon said "things that were unimaginable until recently are happening between South Korea and Japan."

"Until I visited Japan in March, it took 12 years for the two countries to resume the regular visit of their leaders, but it took less than two months for the two countries' leaders to make reciprocal visits," Yoon said, saying the two countries can overcome challenges they face and open new future if they engage each other with sincerity.

Regarding the Seoul-Washington alliance, Yoon said the alliance was rebuilt during his presidency. He noted the Washington Declaration, which was agreed between Yoon and U.S. President Joe Biden during their summit last month, showed "an unprecedented level of defense promise including nuclear weapons."

"South Korea's national security, which relied only on North Korea's goodwill, is taking a new shape," Yoon said. "Through joint planning and joint execution on the operation of U.S. nuclear assets, South Korea is now able to reinforce the extended deterrence," Yoon added.

The president said the upcoming South Korea-U.S.-Japan summit on the occasion of a Group of Seven summit next week is a chance to "consolidate the coalition for regional peace through the trilateral security cooperation."

He also said his efforts to draw investments into South Korea resulted in favorable outcomes, citing 26 memoranda of understanding (MOUs) worth 40 trillion won ($30.28 billion) signed with Saudi Arabian counterparts and the United Arab Emirates' promise to invest $30 billion in South Korean industries.

"Through domestic investment of such large-scale oil money, we expect to provide significant support for our promising startups, ventures and small businesses," he said. "Going forward, I will focus on the economy at the center of diplomacy, and we will work hard to expand our product exports and attract investments from advanced global firms."

On the domestic front, Yoon blamed the previous Moon Jae-in government for recent social problems including home rental frauds, crypto speculation, financial crimes and drug crimes.

"The previous government's anti-market and abnormal real estate policies have caused housing market chaos and become breeding grounds for home rental frauds," Yoon said. "The weakening of the monitoring system for financial market misconduct, symbolized by the dismantling of the joint investigation team for financial and securities crimes, has allowed for the rampant occurrence of virtual asset crimes and financial investment fraud."

As part of an attempt to reform the country's prosecution, the Moon administration disbanded the joint investigation team at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office in January 2020. But the team is set to be revived following Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon's promise.

Regarding the recent increase in drug crimes, Yoon also blamed the previous government's policy of weakening the prosecution and legislative obstructions by the majority-holding main opposition Democratic Party of Korea.

namhw@koreatimes.co.kr