President Lee vows to redouble efforts with 'fresh start' mindset

President Lee Jae Myung on Thursday called on his administration to "retie its shoelaces, renew its resolve and make every effort to accelerate the pace of governance with the mindset of starting the term fresh."

Lee made the remarks at a senior secretaries' meeting he chaired that afternoon at Cheong Wa Dae, warning that past administrations had repeatedly seen public trust erode in the early stages of their terms due to lax official discipline. "We must take those past cases as a cautionary lesson and not repeat the same mistake," he said.

Lee stressed the importance of pressing ahead with reform. "Sustained national development requires that the public believe the social system operates fairly and transparently," he said. "If the perception spreads that following the rules means losing out while breaking them means gaining, no policy can be effective."

He said "unrelenting reform to correct the foul play, unfairness and abnormality that weigh down people's lives is more necessary than ever," adding that strengthening solidarity and trust across the community would "pave a more solid path toward an irreplaceable Republic of Korea."

Lee emphasized that "creating change people can actually feel in their daily lives matters more than grand slogans or lofty goals." He cited a notable drop in voice-phishing crimes since the launch of a pan-government joint response team as an example, saying such results must be "consistently expanded across all sectors of society."

He went on to say that hoarding and price-gouging, price-fixing, share price manipulation, fraudulent receipt of public funds, digital sex crimes, drugs, serious industrial accidents and corruption in public office "cause great harm to people's lives and must be addressed with greater focus."

He added that "reform only acquires its true meaning when it leads to real improvements in people's lives," urging officials to "pool their efforts behind unrelenting reform — and above all, sustained reform for the people's livelihoods."

Lee also addressed the pace of governance, noting that more than 440 days had passed since his administration took office. "That amounts to just over 20 percent of the full term. I don't know how it feels to all of you, but to me it has gone by very quickly," he said.

He acknowledged that the early part of the term had brought various domestic and external difficulties, but said the administration had put governance back on track and laid the groundwork for a national leap forward through three major mega-projects. "All of these achievements are thanks to the public officials who have dedicated themselves quietly in places unseen," he said.

However, Lee said that "from the public's perspective, there are still many areas that fall short or need to move faster." He pointed particularly to cases where policymakers had failed to adequately assess real-world conditions or public receptiveness, or where the pace of policy implementation had not met expectations.

He said government ministries, as the central pillar of governance, needed to "move proactively, actively and preemptively," and that Cheong Wa Dae must also "support creative, fast-moving governance by communicating actively with ministries with a strong sense of responsibility."

He closed by urging all public officials to "concentrate every capacity you have on creating change that the people can feel."