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| ▲ President Yoon Suk-yeol (2nd from L) presides over a Cabinet meeting at the presidential office in Seoul on July 5, 2022. (Yonhap) |
Yoon-economy
Yoon says he will personally take care of livelihood issues
By Lee Haye-ah
SEOUL, July 5 (Yonhap) -- President Yoon Suk-yeol said Tuesday he will personally take care of the public's livelihood issues by meeting with people and listening to their concerns, and presiding over a weekly economic meeting.
Yoon made the remark during a Cabinet meeting, saying the economy is in a "very difficult" state with consumer prices rising 6 percent last month from a year earlier due to the worst inflation shock since the 1970s oil crisis.
"From now on, I will personally take care of people's livelihood issues," he said at the meeting held at the presidential office. "I will go out on the field and listen to the difficulties of the people, and preside over an emergency economic and public livelihood meeting each week."
Yoon said the public sector will be the first to ease the people's burdens by selling off non-essential assets and carrying out bold expenditure reforms.
"We must use the financial resources that are thus generated to generously support those who are in more difficult and dire conditions," he said.
The president again took aim at the inefficiencies of government committees, saying the presidential office will be the first to overhaul those under its wing and cut back their budgets.
He instructed each ministry to take similar steps.
Yoon was presiding over his first Cabinet meeting since returning from a visit to Spain last week, where he attended the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit, and held bilateral and multilateral summits on the sidelines.
During the Cabinet meeting, he explained his efforts to win the cooperation of world leaders on advanced technologies and their support for South Korea's bid to host the 2030 World Expo in Busan.
Yoon urged the Cabinet members to make similar efforts to bring the Expo to Busan.
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