President Yoon Seok-yeol said today (11th), "In order to alleviate the burden of shopping during the holidays, we need to supply Chuseok items on the largest scale ever, and the government should also support it with discount coupons."
President Yoon presided over the 5th emergency economic livelihood meeting at Hanaro Mart in Yangjae today and said, "We need to set the price of holiday shopping carts so that people can feel them with their skin."
He added that he will promptly promote flood recovery support and prevention of pests and diseases so that agricultural product price instability does not occur due to heavy rain.
President Yoon said, "People's livelihood is more difficult than ever due to high prices and damage from torrential rain."
At the same time, he asked for food support for undernourished children, the elderly living alone, and neighbors with disabilities, and to provide alternative means of packed lunches.
He also mentioned the supply of holiday funds for SMEs and small businesses, prevention of unpaid wages, and early payment of subcontract payments.
Regarding the damage from torrential rain, he said, "It is urgent to recover the damage and support." He said, "We can mobilize all administrative power to finish before Chuseok by mobilizing all administrative power to compensate for the damage, provide relief for the victims, and support small businesses in the severely damaged areas, so that our people can have a warm Chuseok. It has to be,” he said.
He then asked to focus on recovery from flood damage and said, "I ask the relevant ministries and local governments to work together to ensure that secondary damage never occurs and do everything possible to prevent disasters."
President Yoon repeatedly emphasized, "The state should not slow down with the attitude that the state has unlimited responsibility for the safety of the people."
Lastly, he added, saying that the COVID-19 is re-spreading, "We will closely prepare a system for quarantine and medical response."
Today's meeting was attended by the government, including Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance Chu Kyung-ho, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Hwang-geun Jeong, Minister of SMEs and Startups Lee Young, and Minister of Oceans and Fisheries Cho Seung-hwan.
Choi Sang-mok, chief of economy, and Sang-hoon Ahn, chief of society, were present at the presidential office.
On the private side, there were Lee Sung-hee, chairman of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, Kang Hee-seok, CEO of E-Mart, Kim Yeon-hwa, chairman of the Consumer Public Interest Network, Lee Jun-mo, president of the National Homeless Facilities Association, Oh Se-hee, chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, and Choi Jin-sik, chairman of the Federation of SMEs.
(Photo = Yonhap News)