Lee said on return flight from state visit: 'I reflected — I must communicate more directly with the people'
President's goal is to lower barriers between government and public, not mere social media politics
President Lee Jae Myung said on his return flight from a state visit that "I reflected. Going forward, I must communicate more actively with the people and engage in more direct communication," Cheong Wa Dae Communications Secretary Seong Ki-hong said Sunday.
Seong made the remarks in a post titled "The President's Communication" published on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook, saying Lee made the comment aboard the plane returning to Seoul after completing a state visit to Mexico.
Lee has recently been expanding his direct engagement with the public through active use of SNS.
Seong, who accompanied Lee on last month's trip to the United States and Mexico, said Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum's public communication style drew his attention during the visit. He noted that Sheinbaum holds a live-streamed morning press conference called "La Mañanera" at 7:30 a.m. four days a week, and spends the remaining three days traveling to regions to hear from people on the ground. Seong also cited British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and former US presidents Barack Obama and Franklin Roosevelt as examples of world leaders who make active use of SNS.
He then quoted a recent analysis by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, which found that top political leaders around the world communicating directly with citizens through SNS, YouTube, podcasts and live-streaming channels is "a universal trend." Seong said it was "a natural development for leaders of democratic nations to communicate actively through SNS and other new media."
"What matters is not staying on any one platform, but expanding the space for communication to wherever the people are," Seong said, adding that "the president's direct communication will also diversify in that direction." He went on to say that communication methods evolve alongside the expansion of democracy and the development of media, and that "reaching out to where the people are, answering their questions and listening to their voices is the essence of direct communication and the realization of democracy."
He added that "SNS is just one of many channels for communicating with the people," and that "what the president is pursuing is not simple 'SNS politics' but a dialogue that closes the distance between the people and the president — communication that lowers the wall between governance and the public."
yckim6452@heraldcorp.com
