FULL TEXT 2026 New Year’s address by President Lee Jae Myung

President Lee Jae Myung makes an offering of incense at the Seoul National Cemetery in Seoul, Thursday, during a visit marking the first day of this year. Yonhap

By Anna J. Park

• Published Jan 1, 2026 2:52 PM KST
• Updated Jan 1, 2026 5:36 PM KST

My beloved fellow Koreans,

A new year has dawned — the Year of the Red Horse.

I would like to begin by extending my deepest gratitude to you, the people, who placed your trust in the government and stood together to weather one crisis after another over the past year.

The Year of the Blue Snake, 2025, was about shedding old skin and being born anew. It was a time of recovery and normalization for us all as we overcame anxiety and uncertainty.

Above all, our most urgent task was restoring a nation brought down by insurrection. Thanks to the swift passage of a supplementary budget and the effective rollout of consumption vouchers to revive people’s livelihoods, consumer sentiment rebounded to the highest level in seven years and seven months.

Our economic growth rate is also now on the upswing. Our benchmark KOSPI index surpassed the 4,000 mark, and exports hit an annual record of US$700 billion. Hand-wringing frustration is giving way to hopeful expectations.

We now have crucial stepping stones in place to advance cutting-edge industries and small and midsize business ventures: a hard-won supply of 260,000 GPUs; our 150 trillion-won National Growth Fund and the first-ever budget proposal for the AI era, agreed upon by both the ruling and opposition parties.

The Republic of Korea’s return to the international community and its pragmatic, national interest-focused diplomacy have significantly expanded the horizon for growth and a new leap forward.

In particular, it is encouraging that tariff negotiations with the United States were concluded successfully, easing much of the uncertainty that had been weighing on our economy.

From the construction of nuclear-powered submarines to uranium enrichment and expanded authority to reprocess spent nuclear fuel, our ROK-U.S. alliance – now entering a new renaissance – will serve as a solid backstop for economic revival.

The most hopeful change of all is the fact that the collective intelligence of the sovereign people, proven through the “Revolution of Light,” is beginning to take root at the very heart of state governance.

Through such initiatives as the Public Referral System, the Citizens’ Suggestions Box, town hall meetings, and live broadcasts of Cabinet meetings and ministerial policy briefings, we have made direct communication with the people part of everyday governance. We will continue to innovate relentlessly to further enhance transparency in state affairs.

My proud Koreans,

Thanks to your unified spirit, we have been able to restore the collapsed economy, people’s livelihoods and democracy far more quickly than expected.

However, we have only just reached the starting line. Having begun later than others, we must now run even faster.

For this reason, as we ring in 2026, the goal of this people-centered government is clear. We will gallop powerfully like the Red Horse this year – the first year of a great leap forward for the Republic of Korea.

Across all sectors – politics, the economy, society, culture, foreign affairs and national security – we will achieve a major leap forward and sustained growth without fail.

We will ensure that the fruits of growth achieved through this giant leap are shared by all, rather than monopolized by a privileged few.

To this end, we will make all-out efforts to eliminate the rule-bending and unfair practices that persist throughout society and devote ourselves to building a society free of deceit and unjust privilege.

We will leap beyond being a country where only the state prospers while the people remain poor. Instead, we will become a nation where all citizens grow together in step with national growth, and where Small and Medium-sized Enterprises thrive together with large companies in mutually beneficial partnerships.

The one and only standard for this great leap forward is the lives of the people.

Building on the recovery forged through your perseverance and efforts, we will usher in a full-fledged era of fruition. The government will mobilize every ounce of its capacity so that people can truly feel, in their daily lives, that this year is better than the last.

We will ensure that the resplendent light of K-democracy, which repelled the darkness, warmly permeates the everyday lives of all citizens.

Moving toward becoming a nation where each and every citizen’s face shines brighter, and where people enjoy a quality of life worthy of Korea’s global standing, we will quicken our pace even further.

My fellow Koreans,

Our Republic of Korea has accomplished compressed growth by concentrating all its energy on the formula for success in the era of ultrarapid industrialization.

With limited natural resources, Korea achieved the remarkable milestone of becoming the world’s 10th-largest economy by focusing investment on specific regions, companies, and segments of society.

However, the limits of this growth strategy are now obvious. The very formula that once powered rapid growth has become a trap of success – one that now holds us back.

In this vicious cycle, where inequality and widening disparities stifle growth, competition weakens, and conflict intensifies, the concentration of resources and uneven distribution of opportunity have become obstacles rather than stepping stones.

We must completely transform our growth paradigm. We will accomplish this great transformation by taking a shortcut – by switching from the familiar old path to a new one. Through this change, the Republic of Korea will enter a new future defined by a great leap forward.

With this in mind, I would like to outline five paths for this transformation.

First, we will shift from growth centered around the Seoul metropolitan area to regionally led growth.

Transitioning from a “unipolar, Seoul-centered model” to a “five-pole, three specialized-zone framework” is not a favor to the provinces – it is an essential strategy for national resurgence.

The farther a region lies from the Seoul metropolitan area, the stronger and more decisive the support it will receive.

Last year’s relocation of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries was only the beginning. We will maximize the use of our national territory through a multipolar framework, establishing Seoul as the economic capital, the central region as the administrative capital and the southern region as the maritime capital.

We will design a framework in which developing cutting-edge industries drives regional advancement – from an energy-rich semiconductor belt in the south to AI demonstration cities and renewable energy clusters.

We will lay a solid foundation for province-led economic development through focused investment in education, which will help foster talent and technology; in metropolitan transportation and cultural infrastructure, which will enhance quality of life; and in tourism policies.

Second, we will shift dramatically from growth centered on a handful of large corporations to growth that benefits all, in which opportunities and the fruits of growth are shared equitably.

Although the nation united behind the successful conclusion of tariff negotiations with the United States, it is undeniable that the immediate benefits will be concentrated among certain large corporations. The same holds true for defense industry and nuclear power plant exports worth tens of trillions of won annually.

Now, the gains achieved through collective national effort must reach SMEs and startups and ultimately translate into tangible benefits for all citizens.

Launched last year, the National Growth Fund will serve as a catalyst for a transformation that enables every citizen to invest in the nation’s growth and share equitably in its rewards.

Korea’s economic growth in the 1970s was driven by entrepreneurship and a willingness to take risks, while an innovative venture spirit helped turn our country into an IT powerhouse in the 2000s.

From the AI era to the great energy transformation, today’s disruption of the existing order presents boundless opportunities for innovators who drive “creative destruction.”

As we transition from an employment-focused society to a startup-driven one, the government will spare no effort in enabling young entrepreneurs and business founders to take bold risks and pioneer new paths of innovation.

We will build a nation where failure becomes an asset for future success, enabling one to rise again at any time. We will usher in a booming era of startups and business ventures where any idea can spark a startup and a golden age of SMEs.

Third, we will transform growth that disregards human life and accepts risk as inevitable into sustainable growth that puts safety first.

With the highest rate of industrial fatalities among OECD countries, our status as the world’s 10th-largest economy cannot be a source of pride.

What meaning does growth hold if family members leave home in the morning and never return in the evening?

The costs and consequence of neglecting human life must be made far greater than it is today.

In a country filled with dangerous workplaces where no one wants to work, neither corporate sustainability nor long-term national development is possible.

We will ensure that safe working environments and a culture of respect for life take firm root by increasing the number of labor inspectors by 2,000 and introducing a new workplace safety guardian system.

Growth built on safety is a genuine form of sustainable growth that guarantees people’s happiness.

Fourth, we will make a great transformation from product-driven growth to attractive growth led by culture.

In an era where K-content exports surpass even those of secondary batteries and electric vehicles, investment in culture is no longer a social contribution – it is a core growth strategy. Culture itself is the economy and a future growth engine, and it has become a linchpin of national competitiveness.

K-pop fans become K-beauty enthusiasts and consumers. K-drama viewership drives K-food sales. A virtuous cycle has taken shape, with culture catalyzing industrial growth.

To ensure K-culture does not remain a passing fad, we will strengthen the entire cultural ecosystem, including the fine arts that underpin popular culture.

Building on the expanded 9.6 trillion-won culture budget, we will ensure K-content permeates the world more broadly and deeply.

Fifth and finally, we will replace unstable growth constrained by the threat of war with stable growth supported by peace.

Steadfast peace is synonymous with growth, and robust security is the driving force behind prosperity. By converting the cost of hostility in to the dividends of peace, we can transform the current “Korea risk” into a “Korea premium” in the future.

The government is steadfastly implementing measures to ease military tensions and restore trust between the two Koreas and is building consensus with the international community, including the United States and China, on peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.

As a “pacemaker,” we will actively support the resumption of North Korea-U.S. talks and continue pursuing the restoration of inter-Korean relations this year.

By building upon the ROK-U.S. alliance, which has evolved into a “comprehensive strategic alliance,” and a strong, self-reliant national defense, we will make sure that peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula can be advanced meaningfully.

We will practice our pragmatic, national interest-focused diplomacy more widely around the world. We will further solidify the leadership of the Republic of Korea, a responsible global power, and set a global example of shared prosperity through cooperation.

Fellow Koreans,

The five principles of the great transformation I have outlined are neither idealistic nor aspirational.

This is an urgent appeal: without a fundamental transformation of our growth strategy, Korea will remain trapped in prolonged stagnation.

We no longer have a choice. We can no longer have the luxury of hesitation. Now is the time for action and commitment.

I will put my faith solely in the people so that we can move forward step by step and 2026 can be recorded as the “first year of remarkable progress made through a grand transformation.”

My beloved fellow citizens,

I frequently noted the need to “boost our national strength” during my diplomatic engagements last year.

The national strength I mentioned concerns not only economic and military power. As the turbulent history of the Republic of Korea demonstrates, our national strength always springs from the people.

The happier each and every one of our 52 million citizens becomes and the more their dreams, hopes and thirst for challenges expand, the stronger the Republic of Korea will become.

This year, the people-centered government will more faithfully answer the citizens’ pressing question: “If our nation prospers, will my livelihood also improve?” We aim to be a government on which people pin even higher expectations over the next four years and five months than over the past seven months.

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,” and it is with this kind of commitment that we will turn a series of small changes into a massive snowball of achievements.

We will not shy away from the process of reform, even if immediate results are not visible. We will put our heads together with patience and sincerity and pool our wisdom for the sake of our future.

I am well aware that this great, arduous task is only possible with a foundation of national unity and the unwavering trust of the people. As a “President for all,” I will attend to state affairs with an even greater sense of humility.

I believe in the potential of the Korean people, who turned a winter of despair into a spring of hope. I urge you, the rightful owners of our nation, to join us on this mission of building Korea’s future.

Just as we stood together to advance democracy last year, let us now work together to establish a new global standard for growth and progress.

The Republic of Korea’s great leap forward will ultimately be achieved by the people!

Thank you.