hankyoreh

South Korean President Moon Jae-in talks to reporters at the Blue House on Oct. 25. (provided by the Blue House)

On Oct. 25, South Korean President Moon Jae-in expressed his disappointment with North Korea’s decision to tear down buildings at the Mt. Kumgang resort, voicing concerns that the move “could damage inter-Korean relations.”

Moon was speaking at an event for Blue House beat reporters at the Nokjiwon garden on the Blue House grounds. Destroying the facilities at Mt. Kumgang, Moon said, “could rub the [South Korean] people the wrong way, and such matters could damage inter-Korean relations.”

Moon continued: “Actually, tourism itself would not be [a violation of] UN Security Council sanctions. But paying North Korea compensation for that tourism could be a violation of sanctions. The UN Security Council sanctions prevent us from maintaining the previous method of tourism.” These remarks signal the difficulty of having to improve inter-Korean relations amid sanctions by the international community.

The Pyongyang Joint Declaration, released on Sept. 19, 2018, states that “the two sides agreed, as conditions mature, to [. . .] normalize the [Kaesong] industrial complex and the Mt. [Kumgang] Tourism Project.”

Moon said that, while he was in no rush to appoint a replacement for former Justice Minister Cho Kuk, he intended to speed up prosecutorial reform. “I don’t mean to hurry [in appointing a new Justice Minister]. Since we’re taking steps toward prosecutorial reform right now and since there are hopes that the bills that are fast-tracked at the National Assembly could become law, I’ll keep an eye on developments before making my decision. I don’t intend to add any variables to the equation,” he said.

“For the moment, I’m not planning to make any adjustments to my cabinet aside from appointing a new justice minister,” the president added.

Moon noted, however, that the government had been “working diligently so far” on prosecutorial reform and said he thought “the foundation has been laid to some extent.” Moon’s emphasis was on speed: “I think that the next challenge until someone fills that post [the next justice minister] is to achieve results that the public will credit.”

Moon also addressed a plan to expand the quota of students admitted to universities based on their score on the university entrance exam, known as the Suneung, which was announced in a meeting of education-related ministers. “We need to pay more heed to the standards and criteria of the public,” Moon said.

“According to the educational philosophy we’ve held so far, we’ve been trying to change a system in which wealth is transferred through spending more on private education for better grades on the Suneung and thus admission into good universities. We thought it would be fair to move away from that by offering various types of admission that respect the individual personality. But students and their parents don’t trust the fairness or transparency of admission based on school records and think the regular admission process based on the Suneung score is fairer,” Moon said.

“I can feel the difference in our standards and criteria for fairness. It’s pretty difficult to run the country,” Moon admitted.

During the event, Moon shared his feelings at reaching the midpoint of his time in office. “We’ve kept running without taking a break, but we still have a long way to go. There are signs of improvement in jobs and income distribution, but it’s not enough for the entire public to notice or agree with.”

A total of 240 reporters, both domestic and foreign, attended the event on Friday. “After the legislative branch, judicial branch, and executive branch, the press is the Fourth Estate, a powerful force in the country. [The press] has contributed greatly to our country’s development, and it has the role, and the heavy responsibility, of continuing to make such a contribution in the future,” Moon said.

“While we face a number of difficulties, there has probably never been a politician who has gotten as much love from the public as me. The reason I’m here today is that reporters have done a good job of presenting me, which has earned me the people’s love.”

By Seong Yeon-cheol, staff reporter

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]