President Moon Jae-in's 2022 New Year's press conference was eventually canceled.
According to the Blue House explanation, the word 'cancellation' is not appropriate as there was no 'official announcement' of the press conference in the first place.
The reason is that the priority is to focus on responding to the situation in which the COVID-19 Omicron is rapidly spreading and becoming the dominant species.
Park Soo-hyeon, senior presidential secretary for public communication at the Blue House, who delivered the news, said, "It is unfortunate that there are not enough opportunities to communicate with journalists who ask questions on behalf of the people."
This year's New Year's press conference was planned for mid-January, but was postponed to around the 27th due to a trip to the Middle East. The 27th was the most appropriate time as it had to be right after the tour, just before the Lunar New Year holiday, and above all, before February 15, when the official presidential election campaign began. In fact, the Blue House also prepared for a press conference. Expected questions and answers on various issues were compiled, and working-level staff also asked reporters' interests. As it could be the last meeting of his term, reporters were also making a list of questions on topics that the president had not expressed his position on in person. It was expected that President Moon's candid stance on the real estate policy, which was the 'prime' of the Moon Jae-in administration, the case of former Justice Minister Cho Kuk, and the pardon of former President Park Geun-hye would come out. Except for the apology of "I'm sorry" about the real estate policy, it is a matter of which the president has never heard the truth. There was also a case of New Year's press conference last year, which was held both online and offline due to the corona virus, so I asked if there was any possibility to hold it online or non-face-to-face this year. However, the answer returned from a senior Blue House official was "difficult". "It's not a face-to-face or non-face-to-face issue, but it's realistically difficult because the president has to focus on responding to Omicron."
The New Year's press conference is an opportunity for the public to hear about the president's political plan for the year.
Although his term of office is only four months left, since President Moon himself emphasized that "I will become a president who works to the end", as a citizen, I can't help but wonder about the direction of the president's policies that will affect lives for one-third of a year.
As the New Year's press conference was canceled, the public lost the opportunity to hear about the president's policy plans for the remainder of his term.
Since taking office, President Moon has stood in front of the public on the occasion of press conferences and dialogues with the people about 10 times so far. There were four New Year's press conferences held every year until last year, four press conferences to celebrate the inauguration date (including the one that was replaced with a dialogue at the time of the second anniversary of the inauguration), and two conversations with the public. This is a number compared to former Presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun, who personally held briefings and press conferences 150 times, as well as former Presidents Lee Myung-bak, who stood in front of the people 20 times. There may be an objection that we should pay attention to the content rather than the number of press conferences. However, since it was a government that criticized the previous government's 'incompatibility' and promoted 'communication', even in absolute numbers, regret remains.
It is clear that the response to Omicron is a big challenge facing the government right now. In fact, right after the tour, according to quarantine guidelines, even during home quarantine, President Moon ordered his staff to "quickly switch to the Omicron response system." People were also asked to receive a third vaccination, wear a mask, and refrain from traveling during the Lunar New Year holidays. However, what if the president's instructions and requests were not only delivered through a written briefing by the chief of communication, but the president himself came to the conference room to explain the situation and encourage participation?
Some critics are also criticizing it for avoiding a problem that cannot give a clear answer. From diplomatic issues such as inter-Korean relations at a stalemate and the position between the US and China competing for hegemony, to real estate policies that are not seeing any clear effect, the situation is not able to provide a clear answer. There seems to have been a concern that criticism could only grow at the end of his term. As President Moon is working hard on foreign relations and real estate policy, saying, "If we don't do it this time, it will be a burden on the next government."
President Moon is not expected to hold a press conference until the March election. A high-ranking official at the Blue House said, "It is realistically difficult to hold a press conference until the presidential election on March 9 is over." This is to block the controversy over election interference in advance. Therefore, if a press conference is held after the election, it is highly likely that it will be a press conference for resignation. This will be a place where the president who is about to retire will express his thoughts.
In his 2017 inaugural address, President Moon said, "I will become a president who communicates frequently with the people" and "The president will brief the press on major issues directly."
At the New Year's press conference in 2018, at the beginning of his tenure, he replied, "Communicating with the media as a way of communicating with the public can be the key among them, so I will try to increase my contact with the media."
At the New Year's press conference last year, he said, "If the public feels that communication is lacking, we will try to increase communication."
Now that my tenure is coming to an end, if there is a next press conference, I would like to ask this question.
"To what extent do you think the president's promise of 'communication' has been fulfilled?"