Acting president urges efforts for fair election in 1st Cabinet meeting

Acting President Lee Ju-ho presided over his first Cabinet meeting Friday and stressed the need to devote efforts to state affairs ahead of the June 3 presidential election.

Lee made the calls during the first Cabinet meeting since he assumed the interim leadership following the resignation of former acting President Han Duck-soo and Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Choi Sang-mok on Thursday.

Noting the National Assembly's passage of the extra budget bill the previous day, Lee also said, "This supplementary budget was passed in just 11 days, the fastest in the past 20 years."

"It is now time for the government to fulfill its responsibility," he added.

On Thursday, the National Assembly passed a 13.8 trillion-won ($9.6 billion) extra budget aimed at helping disaster response efforts and revitalizing the economy.

With only 33 days remaining until the election, Lee urged the government to ensure the transparent and fair management of the electoral process while firmly maintaining national security.

He then called for undivided attention to pending national tasks, including full-scale trade talks with the United States and revitalizing the economy, despite the limited time remaining.