President Lee Jae-myung said on Jan. 1 that he would move forward step by step, trusting only the public, so that 2026 can be recorded as the “first year of a great leap through major transition.”

In a New Year address released that day, Lee said he would achieve a major leap and growth in all areas, including politics, the economy, society, culture, diplomacy and security.

Lee looked back on the past year, saying that thanks to the public coming together, it was possible to restore the battered livelihoods economy and democracy at a much faster pace than expected.

He added that the country had only just reached the starting line and stressed that it must run faster because it started later than others.

Lee pledged to make this year the “first year of South Korea’s great leap,” like a red horse running powerfully. He said he would open a full-fledged “time of fruition” beyond the “time of recovery” filled with the public’s patience and effort.

On how to achieve the leap, Lee said the growth paradigm must be completely changed. He said a major transition to a new path, not a familiar old one, is the shortcut that will lead South Korea’s leap to a new future, and he presented five “paths of major transition.”

First, Lee said he would shift from “Seoul metropolitan area-centered growth” to “regional-led growth.” He said the country would use its land more broadly in a multipolar system, with Seoul as the economic capital, the central region as the administrative capital, and the southern region as the maritime capital.

Next, he said he would shift from growth centered on a small number of large conglomerates to “growth for all” that shares opportunities and gains evenly. He said shared achievements created through the community’s capabilities and the efforts of all citizens should flow to small and venture firms and fill citizens’ pockets as well.

He also stressed that he would provide unwavering support so young entrepreneurs can take on challenges freely and boldly and blaze a path of innovation, in step with a transition from an employment-centered society to a startup-centered society.

Lee also pledged to shift from growth that disregards life and treats risk as a given to sustainable growth in which safety is a basic standard.

He also said he would shift from growth that puts only products first to attractive growth led by culture. He said he would devote all efforts to enriching the overall cultural ecosystem, including foundational arts that form the roots, so that K-culture does not remain a passing fad.

Lee said he would also shift from uneasy growth that lives with the threat of war to stable growth underpinned by peace, adding that he would also focus efforts on a Korean Peninsula peace process.

Lee said he would actively support North America talks this year as a “pacemaker” and repeatedly seek to restore inter-Korean relations. He said he would take a meaningful step toward peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula based on the South Korea-U.S. alliance, which has evolved into a comprehensive strategic alliance, and a strong self-reliant defense posture.

Finally, Lee said that this year, the people’s sovereignty government would respond more faithfully to the public’s urgent question of whether their lives improve when the nation becomes prosperous. He said it would be a government whose next 4 years and 5 months are more anticipated than the past 7 months.

He also said he would not avoid the process of reform even when immediate results are not visible.

Lee said he knows that all these arduous and great tasks are possible only on the basis of national unity and firm public trust. He pledged to approach state affairs with a more humble attitude as the “president of all the people.”

[Yonhap News Agency]