President Lee "Polarization must be alleviated for growth... Focus on three major social policy capabilities" (comprehensive)

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporters Go Dong-wook and Hwang Yoon-ki = President Lee Jae-myung said on the 13th, “It is time to join forces to bridge the gap of polarization and lower the wall of inequality for greater growth and sustainable development.”

President Lee said this at a cabinet meeting hosted at the Blue House that day, saying, “The more brilliant the light of growth is, the more carefully we must look at the shadows behind it.”

He added, "To this end, please focus the government's capabilities on promoting three core social policies, including housing supply, job stability, and inclusive finance," and added, "Please speed up the discovery and implementation of concrete feasible policies from the perspective that the three mega projects can be successful only when the three core social policies are supported."

He also emphasized, "We need to build a thorough basic social safety net across all aspects of people's lives, such as income, housing, medical care, and care," and added, "Economic growth and gap reduction are two sides of the same coin and necessary and sufficient conditions for a Republic of Korea where we all live together."

In addition, regarding the '6 laws to improve the welfare application system' scheduled to be passed at the Cabinet meeting on this day, President Lee said, "We must now move away from the application system and shift the paradigm to automatic welfare support, where the state first finds and supports citizens in need of help. This will be an important turning point that further increases the state's responsibility for the lives of the people."

He continued, "On-site administration is as important as improving the system," and instructed, "We must make every effort to improve lower-level laws and establish a detailed system through close cooperation between agencies."

Regarding the safe return on the 11th of the Panstar Acro, which was on a trial run on the Northern Sea Route, he said, "This success is not the end, but the beginning," and added, "We must continue to accumulate navigation data through continuous test operations and verify the economic feasibility and stability of the route."

At the same time, he ordered, “The strategy of securing ships with icebreaking capabilities, supporting related industries such as insurance and finance, and developing Busan into a key hub of the Northern Sea Route must be supported,” adding, “We must speed up the expansion of Busan Port infrastructure, construction of Gadeok New Airport, and maintenance of the railway logistics network. We must also strengthen diplomatic capabilities to maintain stable relationships with countries adjacent to the Northern Sea Route.”

Afterwards, when receiving a report on the progress and results of the Northern Sea Route pilot operation and future plans from Vice Minister of Oceans and Fisheries Nam Jae-heon, he expressed interest in managing diplomatic relations with Russia.

President Lee asked, “There was controversy from the start, such as whether it violated sanctions against Russia, but were there any obstacles to cooperation with Russia?”

After hearing the explanation that there was no violation as he did not receive icebreaker operation services from companies subject to sanctions, he said, "Even if it has nothing to do with sanctions, it is not easy if Russia is uncooperative," and "Managing the relationship with Russia is also important."

He continued, “Controversies and difficulties arise in the process of pursuing national interests, but what remains in the end is the Republic of Korea and its people,” and emphasized, “We engage in diplomacy even during war and with enemy countries. There are no permanent enemies and no permanent friends. That is the principle of diplomacy.”

Regarding the recent series of related crimes, including the murder of the mother-in-law that occurred in Seoul, President Lee said, "There are criticisms that although there were signs of danger in advance, the damage was not prevented due to a lax response," and requested, "The relevant authorities should closely investigate whether there were any problems in the response process and quickly reveal the truth."

In addition, he emphasized, “Relational crimes have a high risk of recurrence and are likely to lead to larger crimes, so strict initial response is necessary,” and “We must also hasten the improvement of legal and institutional deficiencies that hinder the protection of victims.”