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| ▲ President Yoon Suk Yeol (2nd from R) presides over a meeting to assess the Presidential Committee of National Cohesion's first year of activities at the presidential office in Seoul on Aug. 25, 2023. (Yonhap) |
Yoon-national cohesion
Yoon calls for national cohesion across political divides
By Lee Haye-ah
SEOUL, Aug. 25 (Yonhap) -- President Yoon Suk Yeol called Friday for achieving peace and prosperity through national cohesion across political divides.
Yoon made the remark during a meeting of the Presidential Committee of National Cohesion, which was held to reflect on its accomplishments in its first year of operation and introduce new members for the second year.
"I have consistently presented the universal values of freedom, human rights and the rule of law in the running of state affairs and international relations," Yoon said during the meeting at the presidential office. "These universal values are the mechanism for national cohesion and enable cohesion, and are the purpose and direction of our cohesion."
Yoon said his administration has been pushing to increase welfare support for the socially vulnerable and boost investment in cutting-edge science and technology despite adopting belt-tightening measures in order to expand freedom and ensure its sustainability.
He called on the committee members to play a role in widely spreading the universal values of freedom, human rights and the rule of law that serve as tools for cohesion.
He also said that while conservatives and progressives follow divergent paths, the nation as a whole should move in the same direction.
"Our direction is to enjoy a richer and higher culture and civilization while being freer, and to jointly build peaceful and prosperous relationships with all of humanity on this Earth," he said. "It is certainly not progress to bow to or be swept away in anachronistic struggles and revolutions, and such fraudulent ideologies."
The committee was launched in July last year to promote national unity across all sectors. Headed by former Democratic Party leader Kim Han-gil, the panel is made up of government officials and 26 civilian members, including Kim.
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