Moon talks with Sohn before leaving the Blue House

Former President Moon talked with Sukhee Sohn, the former boss of the JTBC. The talks were recorded in various places at the Blue House for 2 days and were broadcast on April 24 and 25 for 80 minutes respectively on the JTBC. 

Looking back for the last 5 years, Moon revealed his achievements and regrets plainly. Moon pointed out the miscarry of the end-of-war declaration as the deepest regret. When asked whether the declaration was realistic at the time of nearing his end-of-term, Moon said he only regretted that he did not have enough time to do it, hoping that the Yoon administration would carry on the effort. 

Moon said "It is our duty to end the war. The war must officially end in documentation. It then leads to a peace treaty. Peace treaty I mean is to come with denuke. All of these should include in the end-of-war declaration."

He favorably gave credits to Trump. "The public sentiment on North in the US is not friendly. But Trump boldly thought and acted to meet Kim like top-down without pre-negotiations. It turned the atmosphere in the Korean Peninsula dramatically. He did not make things complicated like trade retaliation but separated one thing from the other to make it work out.

As for Abe, Moon said that he was a polite man but he just did not want to rate about Abe's leadership. One thing for sure, he said, was that the relations between the two countries became worse during Abe's term so was the Japan's conservative swing. 

As for Yoon administration using the Defense Ministry building as his office, Moon said that it was not a good idea because moving presidential office should happen under a far-sighted national plan; yet it was better for him to cooperate to minimize risk of national security during the hand-over period. 

When asked his plan after retirement, he said that he was almost a dead battery now so he had not had any plan yet. When asked whether he felt easy now, Moon said that he could not wait to retire and go home and read books. 

"I do not want to pay a special effort to achieve something any more. From the moment I stepped into politics to retire, I have received generous love and support from the people. I would like to show my sincere gratitude. We together have endured many risks and pains and I would like to thank the people for their patience and hard work. I think South Korea is recognized more or less 10th power in the world whether it is economy, democracy, culture, quarantine or military power. I just feel honored that I served my presidency during these times" closed Moon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moon speaks at XV World Forestry Congress

Moon gave a speech at the XV World Forestry Congress held at COEX Seoul May 2. He emphasized cooperation between advanced and developing nations as well as sharing the burden in our global effort to bring sustainable prosperity through harmonious co-existence between man and forests. 

The Congress takes place every 6 year and is managed by the FAO (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization). Attendees gather together and discuss environment issues such as climate change, desertification and deforestation. 

South Korea was recognized as a nation that succeeded turning devastated forests due to the Korean War to greenery, the reason holding the 15th Congress in Seoul this year. Welcoming FAO Director General Qu Dongyu and FAO honorary ambassador Princess Basma bint Talal of Jordan, Moon said that it was truly worrying that more than 80 times bigger forests of Seoul were disappearing on the planet earth every year. 

He said that crisis of forests was crisis of man and we must act for us and for next generation. He brought up the agreement signed by leaders of 141 nations in Glasgow UK last November to prevent loss of forests until 2030. He said that we needed to find ways to create jobs and income without destroying forests. 

Moon added that South Korea would proactively participate in the move and provide necessary support and pointed out that there were around 60,000 kinds of wild plant seeds underground storage called 'seed vault' in Bonghwa County North Gyeongsang Province. He closed his speech by saying "let us work together to sail towards a new era where man lives harmoniously with nature." <PowerKorea>

백종원 기자  bridgekorea@naver.com