New Year’s Address

[Anchor Lead]

In a new year's meeting with business and social figures on Wednesday, President Moon Jae-in vowed to produce tangible economic outcomes that can be felt by the people this year. He also stressed industrial innovation and pledged to create a business-friendly environment conducive to investment.

[Pkg]

Entering his third year in office, President Moon Jae-in devoted the majority of his new year's speech to economic matters. During the 13-minute address, the president focused on overhauling the framework of the South Korean economy and presenting a path for the nation to improve together. He then vowed to produce tangible policy results that can be felt by the people this year.

[Soundbite] President Moon Jae-in : "I will usher in the first year of creating a society in which the lives of the people get better evenly and become affluent together to overcome inequality."

Moon stressed innovation across all industries as a way to overcome the nation's chronic low-growth economic structure. He unveiled plans to inject a large portion of government budgets to boost innovative growth in manufacturing and other industries leading the fourth industrial revolution. The president also promised to ease regulations to encourage corporate investment.

[Soundbite] "I will work to create a friendly environment for businesses to make investments, since economic development and jobs come from corporate investment in the end."

Moon pledged to further tighten the social safety net while turning more non-regular jobs into permanent positions starting in the public sector. The president emphasized that in order to achieve such goals, it is necessary for concerned parties to make concessions and reach consensus through democratic procedures with equity placed at the center. Regarding inter-Korean relations, Moon made it clear that he will do his best to turn the current situation of temporary calm into an unstoppable and irreversible wave of peace in the new year.