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August comes as tough month for Moon

By Nam Hyun-woo namhw@koreatimes.co.kr

President Moon Jae-in is set to take on daunting tasks this month with his term heading to the final stage, as the continued surge in the country’s Delta variant cases hurt his approval rating while his efforts to improve inter-Korean relations are hitting a snag.

According to Cheong Wa Dae, Moon was supposed to take a summer vacation this week but “postponed” the plan to hold meetings with his aides. Though the presidential office said the vacation was postponed, chances are high that Moon will not take it at all so as to address pending state affairs.

If Moon does not take the leave, it will be the third consecutive year that he has canceled his summer vacation. In 2020, he called off his leave due to heavy rainfall that wreaked havoc on the southwestern region of the country, and he scrapped his 2019 vacation plans due to the rising tensions with Japan after Tokyo imposed export restrictions on key industrial materials to Seoul.

Korea’s President is allowed to use 21 or 22 days of leave a year, but Moon spent five out of his 21 days in 2019 and one out of 22 last year. He has not taken a single day off this year.

During a meeting with aides, Monday, Moon said he feels “heavy-hearted for the public

not spending their summer vacations freely” due to COVID-19 and thanked the public and health workers for their service and cooperation in following social distancing measures. Despite Moon’s initial plan to contain the surge of Delta variant cases as quickly as possible, the country’s daily COVID-19 cases have been hovering over 1,000 for weeks, with the country’s total caseload surpassing 200,000 as of Sunday.

On July 12 when the government adopted the toughest Level 4 distancing measures in Seoul and surrounding cities, the President said, “Short but full measures will help our prompt return to daily lives.” But the government ended up adopting Level 3 distancing measures outside the capital area, as the Delta variant spreads fast.

Moon pledged Monday that the government will spare no efforts for faster vaccination, seeking to have more than 36 million people to get at least one shot before the Chuseok holiday period, which starts Sept. 20.

The North Korea issue is also a conundrum for Moon.

Last week, the government announced that it restored communication lines with Pyongyang, with Moon and North Korea leader Kim Jong-un agreeing on the necessity to improve inter-Korean relations.

This raised hopes that the two Koreas may revive a reconciliatory mood, but the North threw a tough test for Moon on Sunday, demanding Seoul cancel the upcoming combined military exercise with the U.S.

According to Pyongyang’s Korean Central News Agency, Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korea’s leader, said the annual summertime drill will “cloud” the future of the inter-Korean relations.

“I surely see the military drill, which takes place at an important turning point like this, will become an unpleasant prelude to seriously hurting the will of the leaders of the North and South seeking to take the step toward rebuilding trust again and further clouding the path lying ahead for inter-Korean relations,” she said.

Over the restored communication lines, she added “I think the restoration of communication lines is nothing but physical reconnection of what had been severed,” and “no more meaning than that should be attached to it.” According to sources, South Korea and the U.S. are planning to begin the second Combined Command Post Training on Aug. 16, while monitoring the country’s COVID-19 situations. As the North directly demands a cancellation of the exercise, however, a number of ruling party lawmakers are raising voices for the government to postpone the drill.

National

en-kr

2021-08-03T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-08-03T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://ktimes.pressreader.com/article/281535114034246

The Korea Times Co.