President Park Geun-hye spoke those words as she wrapped up her national address at Cheong Wa Dae on Jan. 13. In the statement to the nation, her fifth since being sworn in, President Park stressed that the international community should adopt a resolution to enact more effective and stronger sanctions against North Korea, as well as respond to its provocations in a different manner than before.
President Park Geun-hye gives her national address at Cheong Wa Dae on Jan. 13.
The president said that, “North Korea’s recent nuclear weapons test is not only a grave provocation to our security, but it is also a great threat to our existence and to our future. It is an inexcusable challenge to world peace and security, not to mention to Northeast Asia as a whole.”
“We will make all-out diplomatic efforts to adopt new sanctions and resolution against the North, powerful enough to make it change its course. In that process, China’s role is crucial,” she added.
“I believe that Beijing knows that, unless it puts its commitments into action, it won’t be able to keep Pyongyang from carrying out a fifth or even sixth nuclear weapons test, or be able to secure peace and security across the Korean Peninsula.” She then called on China to “play a necessary role in this matter as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council,” adding that “a partner in need is a partner indeed.”
President Park Geun-hye gives her national address at Cheong Wa Dae on Jan. 13.
President Park also spoke about issues related to the domestic and global economies.
“At the launch of our current administration, we faced a host of challenges, both at home and abroad, that required a new paradigm for economic revival and growth. To overcome those challenges, our government has pushed ahead with its three-year plan for economic innovation and structural reforms that cover four key areas: public services, the labor market, the financial sector and education. These efforts have drawn much global attention,” said the president.
“In 2014, the IMF and the OECD said that our growth strategies based on our three-year plan for economic innovation were ‘number one’ among the G20. Then last year, Moody’s Investors Service upgraded Korea’s issuer and bond ratings to Aa2, the highest rating that our nation has ever received,” she said.
Moody’s pointed out, she said, that the nation’s growth rate has been faster than that of other developed economies, and that the nation’s total external debt has seen a drop to less than 30 percent of the nation’s GDP, from 50 percent. Above all, the rating agency praised the government’s structural reforms across the four key areas.
“On the other hand,” the president concluded, “the agency also sent a clear message at the same time. The sole way that we can escape from any future crisis we might face in terms of security or economics, is you. Our fellow Koreans are the owners of the nation and I call on all of you to stand at the forefront of these efforts, for your family, for your children and for our future generations.”
By Jeon Han, Sohn JiAe
Korea.net Staff Writers
Photos: Cheong Wa Dae
hanjeon@korea.kr
