Moon-Yoon meeting should be the start for cooperation

President Moon Jae-in and President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol will be finally meeting for dinner at the Blue House this evening. Moon suggested to resume the meeting which had been cancelled on March 16, which Yoon agreed to. It would be 19 days since the two have met on the presidential election day. It is also the longest period since democracy was achieved in Korea for the incumbent president to meet with the president elect. It appears that the momentum for the meeting accelerated when the National Board of Audit’s advisory on the transitional period dismissed discord between the two sides.

There are countless issues that the two should work on together. One of the most pending issues are putting together supplementary budget to compensate loss for self-employed and small businesses impacted by the pandemic and approving preliminary budget to relocate the presidential office to Yongsan. There are imminent issues at hand, including unstable security triggered by North Korea’s missile firing and global supply issues driven by the war in Ukraine. The topic of issuing pardon of former President Lee Myung-bak should not be put off any longer. Such issues are big questions that need to be answered at the higher level.

Both sides cannot afford to be too proud to work and come up with solutions on these issues. They can seek consensus if they take a step back. President Moon should give full cooperation and support for the incoming government, while President-elect Yoon should give full respect to the outgoing president. Doing so would create the foundation for cooperative governance. If the meeting gets cancelled again or fails to yield results, it will let down public expectations for smooth government transition.

Slander or ridicule of the other party should be refrained at all costs. Strong language that can provoke others may undermine the meeting as well as cooperation essential for state affairs operation. In such challenging times, we should think of what is best for the people rather than paying attention to the interests of one’s own party.