문 대통령 '국민들은 일자리 성과 기다릴 여유 없어; 교육이 포용국가의 시작'
President Moon is getting briefings, starting today, from government ministries... on what they've achieved... and what they plan to do in the new year.
Today it was the ministries of labor and education.
And he told them... that Korea needs results when it comes to jobs... and reform in education, which are the keys, he said, to building an inclusing nation.
Our Blue House correspondent Shin Se-min has our top story.
President Moon Jae-in is being briefed one by one by government ministries, and first up were those in charge of labor and education.
The president praised the work done by the labor ministry in terms of cutting working hours and improving the job security of irregular workers in the public sector -- a step forward, he said, in making the country an inclusive nation.
But he stopped there and pushed the point home -- the depressing jobs numbers.
President Moon ordered his government to speed things up and get some results.
"The quality of jobs may have improved to a degree, but overall, the country has failed to create greater numbers of quality jobs. Of course, it takes time for policies to bear fruit, but the people cannot wait that long."
And he said the passage of the government's 418 billion dollar budget for next year should definitely help spur the process forward and result in tangible achievements.
In terms of education, the president emphasized its importance,... calling it the starting point in achieving the administration's goal of an inclusive nation.
"Through education, we can foster innovative talent. Education gives people people hope for a better life. It's also a ladder for upward mobility, and this is the role our education needs to play."
The president then ordered the ministry to work to meet the standards of the people and to improve transparency and fairness from early childhood education all the way up to the university level.
He said without such transparency, major education reform is impossible.
Recent revelations of accounting fraud at private kindergartens have sparked a controversy and led to the shutdown of a number of institutes across the nation.
There are five more ministries due to brief the president next week on their policy plans for 2019 -- and more to come after the new year.
Shin Se-min, Arirang News.
