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| President Moon Jae-in speaks during a meeting at Cheong Wa Dae, Tuesday. Yonhap |
By Do Je-hae
Opposition criticism is growing toward President Moon Jae-in's alleged lack of attention in acquiring COVID-19 vaccines in comparison to some other countries, leaving Cheong Wa Dae to go all out in refuting the complaints and negative media reports.
The presidential office issued a lengthy statement Tuesday, detailing Moon's actions for the development and acquisition of vaccines since earlier this year, starting with an April 9 visit to the Institut Pasteur Korea in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. The statement even included Moon's remarks at undisclosed meetings to show that the President has not been idle in acquiring vaccines as alleged by the opposition parties.
According to the statement, President Moon discussed the vaccination situation and instructed that a "sufficient amount" of vaccines be secured from global pharmaceutical companies and COVAX during a meeting with aides Sept. 15. The President also underlined the need to exert full efforts for vaccines during another meeting Nov. 24, in addition to a meeting with Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki and visits to relevant companies throughout the year.
The President also tried to assuage mounting concerns from the public about vaccines. "There is a lot of concern about vaccines these day. It is inevitable that countries which have given a lot of financial and administrative support to vaccine development would be the first to get their people vaccinated," Moon said during a meeting with the five highest national leaders at Cheong Wa Dae, Tuesday. "We believe that we will be able start public inoculations without being particularly late, and we are preparing well." The participants were National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug, Supreme Court Chief Justice Kim Myeong-su, Constitutional Court President Yoo Nam-seok, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun and National Election Commission Chairman Noh Jeong-hee.
Although the presidential office emphasized that Moon has not been careless about the necessity to secure a vaccine supply, the opposition lashed out at the explanation.
"Cheong Wa Dae seems to be working hard to present evidence that President Moon gave instructions several times to secure vaccines. Is Cheong Wa Dae trying to say that the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention didn't listen even as the President instructed them more than 10 times?" Rep. Yun Hee-suk of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) wrote on Facebook.
"The President is the head of the administration. The ultimate responsibility should be shouldered by the President. If the President has caused anxiety and disappointment among the people, the head of the government should apologize, present responses and calm anxieties."
However, Cheong Wa Dae's explanation has been unable to convince the public of the country's vaccine readiness because it lacked reasons as to why Korea was still struggling with getting the vaccines despite the President's repeated instructions. Moon's remarks came as some countries such as Singapore, which are not vaccine-producing countries, are set to start vaccinations before the end of the year.
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