President Moon Jae-in is faced with many questions from journalists during his New Year`s press conference, at the Yeongbingwan Guest House at Cheong Wa Dae on Jan. 10.

By Yoon Sojung 

Photos = Cheong Wa Dae Facebook 

President Moon Jae-in on Jan. 10 stressed his will to make the year 2018 a new start for peace on the Korean Peninsula 

In his New Year`s press conference, President Moon said, “We have to successfully host the PyeongChang Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. We need to strive until the very end to make these into Olympics of peace.” 

The press conference was attended by a total of 209 journalists from both Korea and overseas at the Yeongbingwan Guest House at Cheong Wa Dae.

“Furthermore, we have to peacefully solve the North Korean nuclear weapons issue,” he stressed. 

“We have to make this year a turning point toward an improvement in inter-Korean relations and toward peace on the Korean Peninsula,” said the president. 

Declaring the year 2018 to be a "new start for peace on the Korean Peninsula,” President Moon said that, “I will cooperate more closely with related countries, including our ally the United States, China and Japan, and the rest of the international community.”

He emphasized that, “The denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is a process toward peace and a goal at the same time.” 

President Moon highlighted the fact that the goal of his administration is to "protect the ordinary people and make their lives even better.” He underlined his government’s desire for innovation in order to improve the lives of the people. He also explained the policies his administration carried out for the people over the past eight months since taking office, while mentioning the new policies that will be introduced this year. 

President Moon concluded his address by emphasizing the importance of history for the next 100 years into the future. 

“Setting history right is to teach human society a lesson and to make concerted efforts so that such horrible incidents of our past don`t ever occur again,” said the president.

“The government will restore the honor and dignity of the victims of sexual slavery during colonial times and World War II. It will take action to heal their emotional wounds,” he said. 

“Throughout the process, we will listen to the voices of the victims again and again.”

After the address, President Moon held a Q&A session on-the-spot for about an hour with the journalists present. 

After gaining a chance to ask President Moon a question, among the 200 or so journalists present, Anna Fifield, the bureau chief of the Washington Post, asked President Moon about U.S. President Donald Trump’s contributions to the latest inter-Korean high-level talks.

President Moon answered that, “President Trump greatly contributed to these talks taking place, the inter-Korean high-level talks.” He also said that, “Although the talks have begun, we have not yet solved the North Korean nuclear weapons issue.” 

“We will work closely with the international community regarding the sanctions on North Korea,” he said.

Following the press conference, Laura Bicker from the BBC wrote on her official Twitter feed that, “President Moon spent an hour answering a free-for-all of questions and said he felt it was important to speak freely to the press,” highlighting the difference between Cheong Wa Dae`s attitude toward the press and that of the White House. 

President Moon Jae-in announced his state affairs management plan for 2018 during his New Year`s press conference, at the Yeongbingwan Guest House at Cheong Wa Dae on Jan. 10.

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