President Lee Jae-myung said on the 28th that his administration is "building a new policy for overseas Koreans," pledging to create a digital integration platform for the Korean diaspora, improve the election system and expand support for Koreans returning to and resettling in the country.
Speaking at the 20th World Korean Day ceremony held in Incheon, Lee said in his commemorative address that "the voice of the overseas Korean community is the starting point of every policy." He said the government has been "listening broadly to the proposals and difficulties of Korean communities around the world, meeting overseas Koreans in person during every foreign trip and paying attention to voices from the ground." He added that the government "will make sure those voices do not end as mere suggestions, complaints or laments."
"We will treat the difficulties overseas Koreans face as the starting point for improving the system, and make sure good proposals are carried through into policy and budget and are actually implemented," he said. He first pledged to "further strengthen support for next-generation education so that our children can take pride in their Korean roots wherever they live."
He also said the government will "build a digital integration platform for overseas Koreans so that they can use government services more conveniently anywhere in the world and so that policy information and the overseas Korean community are connected as one." At the same time, he said the government "will without fail improve the overseas voting system so that they can exercise their rights as sovereign citizens more easily."
He added that the government will "support the return and resettlement of overseas Koreans with greater care, and cherish and look after the lives and memories of scattered Koreans, including adoptees, as part of the history of the Republic of Korea."
Lee stressed that "if 7 million overseas Koreans and 52 million citizens at home are connected as one larger Republic of Korea, we can move forward more powerfully as a country the world trusts more deeply, and a country that contributes to a better future for humanity." He added, "Just as we have created miracles over the past 80 years that no one expected, let us together build an irreplaceable Republic of Korea that no one else can substitute for."
