{"id":15131,"date":"2025-06-04T11:02:55","date_gmt":"2025-06-04T10:02:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/londonpost.news\/?p=15131"},"modified":"2025-06-04T11:04:18","modified_gmt":"2025-06-04T10:04:18","slug":"president-lee-jae-myung-vows-to-unite-nation-launches-reform-focused-administration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/world-news\/president-lee-jae-myung-vows-to-unite-nation-launches-reform-focused-administration\/2025\/06\/04\/admin1\/","title":{"rendered":"President Lee Jae-myung vows to unite nation, launches reform-focused administration"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\">SEOUL, South Korea June 04 \u2014 President Lee Jae-myung pledged to prioritize national unity and move beyond divisive politics as he was officially inaugurated on Wednesday, signaling a sharp departure from recent administrations. In his inaugural address before the National Assembly, Lee emphasized his role as a &#8220;president for all,&#8221; vowing to serve every citizen regardless of political allegiance.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 1280px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/wimg.heraldcorp.com\/news\/cms\/2025\/06\/04\/news-p.v1.20250604.941e085d670e4ba9a017dabfe34426b3_P1.jpg\" alt=\"President Lee Jae-myung and First Lady Kim Hye-kyung walk to the Memorial Tower at Seoul National Cemetery in Dongjak-gu District, Seoul, to pay their respects on Wednesday. (Presidential Office Pool Photo via Yonhap)\" width=\"1280\" height=\"999\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">President Lee Jae-myung and First Lady Kim Hye-kyung proceeded to the Memorial Tower at Seoul National Cemetery in Dongjak-gu District, Seoul, on Wednesday to pay their respects and honour the fallen.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\">&#8220;It is time to build bridges of coexistence, reconciliation, and solidarity over the hatred and confrontation that have divided us,&#8221; Lee declared. &#8220;Now is the moment to open wide an era of happiness for the people, filled with dreams and hope.&#8221; His inauguration followed a decisive electoral victory, securing 49.42% of the vote against conservative People Power Party candidate Kim Moon-soo\u2019s 41.15%, marking a return to power for the liberal Democratic Party of Korea (DPK).<\/p>\n<p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\">Lee stressed the urgent need to transcend ideological polarization, referencing the national discord after former President Yoon Suk Yeol\u2019s controversial martial law declaration. &#8220;Unity is a mark of competence, while division is a result of incompetence,&#8221; he stated, committing to restore communication, dialogue, and a politics of concession and compromise.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newsimg.koreatimes.co.kr\/2025\/06\/04\/36da99b7-d579-4a0f-9377-4caeda423734.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"A banner marking the presidential inauguration is hung on the outer wall at the National Assembly building in Yeouido, Seoul, Wednesday, the day President Lee Jae-myung officially took office. Yonhap\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\">Outlining his administration\u2019s vision, Lee vowed to run a pragmatic, flexible government rooted in market principles but open to ideas across the political spectrum. &#8220;Whether it\u2019s Park Chung-hee\u2019s policies or Kim Dae-jung\u2019s \u2014 if they are necessary and useful, we will adopt them without distinction,&#8221; he said. He pledged significant regulatory reforms to promote innovation and entrepreneurship, promising strong support for high-tech industries like AI and semiconductors, alongside a transition to renewable energy to address climate change. &#8220;Innovation and new growth are only possible in a country where every citizen\u2019s basic living conditions are guaranteed and where a strong social safety net allows for bold challenges,&#8221; he noted.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-15135 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Korean-President1-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" srcset=\"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Korean-President1-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Korean-President1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Korean-President1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Korean-President1-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Korean-President1-696x464.jpg 696w, https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Korean-President1-1068x712.jpg 1068w, https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Korean-President1-630x420.jpg 630w, https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Korean-President1-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Korean-President1.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\">On foreign policy, Lee emphasized a shift toward practical, national interest-driven diplomacy to enhance Korea\u2019s global competitiveness and navigate major economic and security shifts. Addressing the martial law controversy under Yoon, he vowed full accountability: &#8220;An insurrection that seizes the people\u2019s sovereignty with the very weapons entrusted by the people must never happen again.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\">Later in the day, Lee unveiled key appointments: four-term DPK lawmaker Kim Min-seok as Prime Minister, Kang Hoon-sik as Chief of Staff, Lee Jong-seok (former deputy NSC head) as Director of the National Intelligence Service, and Wi Sung-lac (former ambassador to Russia) as Director of the National Security Council. He highlighted &#8220;loyalty and competence&#8221; as his primary criteria, acknowledging potential tension between expertise and unity but denying selections were based on personal closeness. &#8220;It\u2019s not easy to find someone who possesses both loyalty and capability,&#8221; he said, adding that economic appointments would be finalized soon after consulting the party, opposition, public, and media. &#8220;Rather than letting a few make personnel decisions unilaterally, it\u2019s essential to consult broadly.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\">Lee concluded by stressing the immediate priority of passing a supplementary budget to stimulate economic recovery. He pledged a thorough, data-driven policy review involving both senior officials and working-level staff, stating, &#8220;I plan to gather not only the heads of all relevant ministries but also working-level staff to assess what recovery policies can be implemented immediately.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SEOUL, South Korea June 04 \u2014 President Lee Jae-myung pledged to prioritize national unity and move beyond divisive politics as he was officially inaugurated on Wednesday, signaling a sharp departure from recent administrations. In his inaugural address before the National Assembly, Lee emphasized his role as a &#8220;president for all,&#8221; vowing to serve every citizen [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15134,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":""},"categories":[8273],"tags":[1551,1673,9647],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Korean-President.jpg","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15131"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15131"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15131\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15136,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15131\/revisions\/15136"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}