Moon vows to create quality jobs, boost birthrate
President Moon Jae-in, third from left in the front row, and first lady Kim Jung-sook, fourth from left, answer questions from the audience at a public-invited event celebrating the 100th day anniversary of the Moon administration at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, Sunday. The one-hour live-broadcast event was organized to answer questions collected from the public, a temporary project group, involving 90,000 citizens to gather insight for future government policies. / Yonhap
By Yi Whan-woo
President Moon Jae-in reaffirmed his promise to create quality jobs and overcome the low birthrate crisis during a question and answer session with citizens at Cheong Wa Dae, Sunday.
He said he will push to reduce the maximum working time to 52 hours per week, down from 68 hours, while expanding parental leave.
The Q&A session, which was broadcasted live for an hour, took place to hear directly from the people on government policies and assess Moon’s performance since he took office, May 10.
The session was based on the most frequently asked questions on a website run by the Moon administration to bolster communication with the people and improve their lives. The creation of jobs and support for childcare were issues that the people were most interested in.
“Quality jobs give hope to the people, increase their spending and revive the economy,” the President said. “And it can eventually help resolve problems associated with the low birthrate and aging society.”
Some 230 citizens with various backgrounds were invited to the session, including musicians and the physically-challenged.
They were members of a project group under the wing of the State Affairs Planning Advisory Committee, the de facto transition team for the Moon administration, which was inaugurated without a transition period.
The group was dissolved in July. But President still urged its members and citizens nationwide to give ideas on government policies, saying, “This is part of a direct democracy.”
Some senior presidential secretaries and Cabinet members took questions before Moon joined the session.
Among the officials were Moon’s chief of staff Im Jong-seok; Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha; Interior and Safety Minister Im Boo-kyum; Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Do Jong-hwan; and Fair Trade Commission Chairman Kim Sang-jo.
The session came after Moon held his first press conference at Cheong Wa Dae Dae, Thursday, to mark his 100th day as president. This was also broadcast live on television.