President Moon attended the 101th anniversary of March 1 Movement ceremony held at the main building of Paiwha Girl’s High School where 40 students gathered together to resume the movement on the same day the next year in 1920.  

“Though we are in an extraordinary time, it is meaningful to celebrate the anniversary at one of the spots where the historic event happened” said Moon in his congratulatory speech adding that “We have gone through tough times for the last 100 years whether it was the Korean War or the financial crisis in 1997. The shouting of the day in 1919 is still alive in us today as the firm consolidation. We will keep the spirit and we will get through whatever the difficulties laid ahead of us.”

Moon then expressed his gratitude to citizens of Asan, Jincheon, Eumseong and Icheon who welcomed fellow Koreans from Wuhan, China as well as citizens of Daegu and Gwangju who sent masks each other and the whole people of South Korea for showing encouragement and help. 

Moon concluded “the virus is threatening our lives for the moment but it will never blast our consolidation and hopes. We will win the fight and we will bring stronger vitality to our economy.”

Prior to the event, the whole place was quarantined and the number of attendees narrowed down to 50 who were all checked temperature and medical examination at the entrance. It is notable this year that a sign language interpreter Hyunhwa Lee took the stage while the model Hyunmin Han was reading the Declaration of Independence in Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese and Russian. 

Moon encourages KCDC
President Moon made a surprise visit to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on March 11 and encouraged the staff. Prior to this, Moon asked his aides to make it simple so that the visit does not disturb their jobs. Naturally, no briefings were made. 

“I wished to visit earlier since I feel bad for your excessive amount of workload. I visit here shortly just to thank you all and I really appreciate your hard work. I would like to mention one thing in particular. I bought ginseng when I visited Namdaemun Market and sent it to you but you sent it to quarantine officers at the Incheon International Airport because you thought that they are working harder than you. It was so touching and I think you deserve praise and encouragement” said Moon.

“What you do is praised not by yourselves but by the world. You have done and are doing tremendous job and this is being watched and acknowledged by the world. You moved the fastest to find confirmed cases, to carry out the tests and to give appropriate measures and treatments from diagnosis kit and self quarantine app. It truly is unprecedented” added Moon.

Eunjyeong Jung, Director of the KCDC, said in response “The KCDC was a result of the will and effort of the former president Moohyun Roh. And I think the KCDC is here today thanks to the people’s support and encouragement. We will do our best to contain the virus so that people can go back to their normal life as soon as possible.”

Moon then said “It is regretful that we cannot shake hands. I hope you take my thanks and encouragement as the citizens of South Korea and I would like to ask you to do your best till the end.”

Junwook Gwon, Director of the Korea National Institute of Health said to Moon “We have almost run out of our energy after two months of continuous hard work day and night but I think we all regained the energy to keep carrying on from your visit. We will do our very best till the end.”