Prime Minister candidate Kim Min-seok said on the 5th, “Because it is a difficult situation like the second IMF (crisis), I will take care of daily life and integration, both of which are important.”
Kim, who officially began his schedule the day after being nominated by President Lee Jae-myung, said this as he started his first day at the office of the personnel confirmation preparation team established at the Financial Supervisory Service training center in Tongui-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul.
Kim assessed the current economic situation as more severe compared to the past foreign exchange crisis. He stated, “It is a situation similar to the second IMF crisis, and in fact, I think it is a more difficult situation than during the IMF crisis. Twenty-eight years ago, the economic trend during the IMF crisis was upward. However, now the economic trend itself is in a state of decline and stagnation, making daily life much more difficult, and the international environment, including the United States, Japan, China, Russia, and North Korea, is several times more complicated and difficult.”
He reiterated the importance of daily life as the core direction of national policy. Kim noted, “I believe that in order to overcome the situation of the second IMF crisis, focusing on daily life is paramount in our national policy.”
Regarding his feelings about being nominated as the first Prime Minister in the Lee Jae-myung administration, Kim said, “I feel an immense sense of responsibility.” On the timing of his nomination, he clarified, “Until the announcement yesterday, the President had not directly said to me, ‘Please take on the role of Prime Minister’ or ‘I will announce you as Prime Minister,’” and stated that he himself had not received official notification of his nomination until the announcement.
Kim also revealed, “I have been thinking that I must do whatever work you assign, in any form,” adding, “The President did not have any words of advice, and after the announcement of my nomination, I naturally had a meeting to discuss various national issues.”