Still, it looked a little daunting. President Moon Jae-in said in an interview with journalist Sohn Seok-hee (recorded on April 15) that was released through JTBC on the 26th, “I received undeserved love from the people from the moment I first entered politics to the moment I retired.” “Now we are proud that we are a successful country.” wish to have It was an honor to be with the people,” he said. When asked, “How do you think your last night at the Blue House will be like as president? I have high expectations for my life after retirement,” and when asked what kind of president he would like to be remembered as, he replied, “I worked hard and worked hard. When asked about his plans after retirement, he said, “It feels like a completely discharged battery right now.”
In the interview that will be recorded as the last media interview during his tenure, the current issue could not be avoided. President Moon Jae-in said about the Yoon Seok-yeol administration’s office relocation plan, “It’s not very good. It is very dangerous to pursue this kind of work without even collecting public opinion, leaving the room during the regime change period when the security crisis is escalating, and starting work on May 10,” he criticized. President Moon said, “It is difficult to accept Ryu’s decision that he will never forget the Blue House for even a day and the implementation method. ” he said.
In the past, President Moon also pointed out that there was a promise to relocate the Oval Office when he was a candidate, he said, “It was to move only the Oval and Secretariat to the Government Complex,” he said. He continued, “The three years before the COVID-19 outbreak, I was very active in the field. I hop and dine with young people who leave work several times. Because there was direct communication with the people, the image of the Blue House in the old palace was lost,” he said confidently.
President Moon said, “Now, people do not think that[the relocation of the office]is a very important task.” . Regarding Yoon’s claim that ‘space rules consciousness’, he reiterated, “(I) met more people and visited the site than any previous government. , it’s difficult to talk like this.”
In response to Son Suk-hee’s question, “Why didn’t you hold a press conference this year?”, he asked the staff, “Why didn’t you do it?” In response, Hyeon-min Tak, a secretary to the protocol, said, “It has been delayed due to the spread of Omicron.” President Moon said, “(Before Corona) I went for a walk with the reporters from the Blue House. I wish I could actually put the schedules I had and check it out.” At the same time, he said, “If communication was lacking, I couldn’t.
When Sohn Suk-hee pointed out that there were criticisms as much as expectations for communication were high, saying, “(The current government’s Blue House) is in a situation similar to or slightly more frequent than Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye’s press conferences.” We put a lot of effort into communication through direct contact with people, and communication through listening and answering through public petitions.” “Corona has interfered with communication, but we should have worked hard enough not to be evaluated as lacking,” he said, accepting some of the criticism.
Regarding the conflict with the transition committee related to government reorganization, he said, “I don’t know why you call it a conflict. We’ll do whatever we want, you can’t. As someone who has run a government, there is a reason that a government organization is necessary, and it is (our) duty to say that it is not right if (the commission) says that it will abolish the leisure department without knowing it.” He also said, “I do not think that expressing an objection is a conflict.” When asked about a fundamental solution to the controversy over personnel issues at the end of his term, he said, “The president only has to exercise the power of the president, and the elected person can exercise the power of the elected president. It is morally good to hand over a person without a tenure to the next government. In the case of personnel in power organizations, it is morally good to listen to the opinions of the elected and resolve them amicably.”
When asked what he thought was underestimated or undervalued among his achievements during his tenure, he answered, “It was the imperial president who had a completely distorted frame. Was I the imperial president?” After asking, “I rather have authority, but why don’t I exercise it?” He continued, “In the authoritarian era, in the legacy of authoritarianism, the imperial president who exercised extra-legal authority beyond the authority set by the law,” he argued, “was attacking (me) by framing it.” Among the underestimated achievements, he cited income-led growth, a raise of the minimum wage, and shorter working hours.
In the inter-Korean dialogue that followed, he recalled his speech in Pyongyang in September 2018 and said, “(Chairman Kim Jong-un) did not interfere with the time or content of his speech. It was surprising,” he said. Over the past five years, he said, “I have done almost all the cooperation possible within the scope of inter-Korean sanctions.” “I and President Trump should be given a fair evaluation in that they resolved the war crisis on the Korean Peninsula in 2017 and turned it into a phase of dialogue and diplomacy.” said Sohn Suk-hee pointed out that “the situation is back to the original position” as a result, and he countered that there had been clear results, saying, “Where did the five years of peace go?” Although it was not, they have revealed their will to talk to each other.”
Regarding former US President Trump, he said, “I think it’s good. He doesn’t want to be judged as a leader in America. However, he said that he was very good in terms of relations with South Korea. “I asked for a five-fold increase in the defense cost, and of course I refused, but Trump did not accept that part emotionally. He didn’t mix that issue with other issues.” Regarding Chairman Kim Jong-un, he said, “I will not make an evaluation. This is not an appropriate time to evaluate.”
Regarding some of the arguments that South Korea should also have nuclear arms, he said, “(If it does), it will have to withdraw from the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, face international sanctions, the two Koreas will engage in nuclear competition, and the relationship between the two Koreas will deteriorate. Beyond being unrealistic, it is an absurd claim, an argument that is not basic.” At the same time, he expressed his disappointment, saying, “The media should criticize (the theory of nuclear armament), but the media only conveys it.” Regarding Korea-Japan relations, “Our government has not changed (from the past). We followed the Kim Dae-jung-Obuchi Declaration, but our attitude has changed as Japan is gradually shifting to the right.” “It is clear that Japan’s right-wing intensified during the Abe administration,” he said.
President Moon also emphasized that the current government was competent in security. “Who has kept our peace and security well? Progressive governments did much better. One axis of security is veterans, and the Korean War veterans’ allowance, compensation for defoliant victims and special merits, and excavation of remains were all carried out by the progressive government. Conservative governments claim that conservatives who do not make such efforts and vaguely see security are well taken care of.” Regarding President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol’s ‘preemptive strike’ remarks, he said, “It’s not appropriate as a national leader, even if it’s the defense minister. He advised that the candidate mode and the presidential mode should be different.”
