In the first press conference of the new year on January 10, President Moon Jae-in announced this year’s plans for state administration. The president spent most of the time discussing economic problems related to the lives of the citizens. The most common word was "economy," which he mentioned 35 times. The word only appeared nine times in last year’s New Year's press conference. This shows that there are many things that need to be improved in the way the government handled the economy last year.

President Moon said this year he would "concentrate on building an economy where everyone can live well together using innovative growth and income-driven growth as the two axes." Specifically, he proposed a vision of a country that boldly embraces everyone. The president stressed, "It may take time and stir controversy, but it is the way we must go." He expressed his determination to give one hundred percent to his goal.

By innovative, inclusive state, the president probably means he will secure the growth drive for the future through innovation and create an inclusive country where everyone lives well together with social and employment safety nets. If so, then he needs to learn from the mistakes of the past year. The president said, "We selected strategic areas for innovative growth (last year) and created an environment for innovative startups." However, he should not ignore the criticism that regulatory reforms, the cornerstone of innovative growth, have lost direction, and that the speed of innovation was slow. Innovative new industries, such as the shared economy, have faced opposition from interest groups and regulations. The regulatory sandbox barely managed to take its first step this year. The president must make sure that such a situation does not repeat this year.

President Moon emphasized, "Last year, the overall real household income increased." From a general perspective, he is right. The problem is that the real income greatly increased for high-income earners, while it dropped significantly for low-income earners. The government cannot deny that the gap between the rich and the poor widened under the incumbent government and that their policies for the low-income class have actually resulted in making them even poorer. This is why they need to get away from the desk and listen and reflect the voices on the streets in their policies.

The clash of interests is expected to be intense in the process of implementing the government's economic policies this year as well. The minimum wage, deregulation, switching the status of non-regular workers to regular workers, and the Gwangju-type jobs are all highly explosive. The best alternative is to reach an agreement through dialogue. But the government should think about its role as a responsible government at times when no solution is in sight.

Since the president focused on the economy in his first press conference this year, discussions on cooperation and integration in politics, including his relationship with the opposition parties were lacking. He needs to provide a more in-depth explanation or message. He also failed to discuss other topics of interest, such as the electoral system reforms including the introduction of mixed-member proportional representation, plans for the cabinet reshuffle, and the revoking of his promise to relocate his office to Gwanghwamun. Since he cannot explain everything in one short press conference, he should provide specific answers through various communication channels in the future.

The Moon Jae-in government will soon begin its third year in office. A third of their term has already passed. It is no exaggeration to say that this year will determine the success or failure of the Moon Jae-in government. President Moon said, "Soon permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula and an innovative, inclusive state where everyone lives well together will stand before us." Now it is time to prove that the Moon Jae-in government was right with results.