Yoon stresses overcoming COVID-19 crisis as transition team sets sail
President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, fourth from left, and Ahn Cheol-soo, fifth from left, chief of the presidential transition committee, applaud with other participants during a ceremony to unveil a plaque displaying the committee's Korean name at its office in Seoul, March 18. Yonhap
President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol asked his transition committee to put top priority on overcoming the COVID-19 crisis, including compensation for small businesses hit by the pandemic, as he presided over its first plenary meeting.
"The coronavirus is spreading rapidly again," Yoon said during the meeting following a signboard hanging ceremony. "The special panel on the COVID-19 crisis should particularly concentrate on compensation measures for small business owners as well as medical and virus prevention issues.”
Korea reported an all-time high of 621,328 new cases Wednesday amid the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
Headed by People's Party chief Ahn Cheol-soo, Yoon's candidacy merger partner, the transition committee is comprised of seven standing subcommittees along with an advisory group for national unity and special panels for the COVID-19 crisis and balanced regional growth.
The composition of the committee was completed Thursday after Yoon named remaining members.
"All standards of the national agenda should prioritize the people," Yoon said. "You can tell the end of the government by looking at the early days of the government."
Yoon called on the transition team to draw a blueprint for South Korea to become a leading country in the Fourth Industrial Revolution and set goals for solving low growth and polarization issues.
He also emphasized national unity, saying all people should be given fair opportunities regardless of where they live and that integration can be achieved when people can trust and believe in the government.
The former prosecutor general added that transition team members should actively have on-site inspections to find solutions, saying they need to reflect voices outside their offices.
"Most of all, the new government should be a government that completes its job well with abilities and capabilities," he said.
Yoon's inauguration is set for May 10. (Yonhap)