[On-site Video+] Choi Sang-mok said, "We will invest 90 billion won in discount support and supply of 265,000 tons of Lunar New Year's products."

[Anchor]
Consumer sentiment is plunging amid internal and external anxiety, and prices are rising again due to the high exchange rate and sluggish crop conditions.

The government sees this New Year's Day as the biggest crisis that determines the domestic economic atmosphere and goes all out.

Let's go to the meeting of ministers related to state affairs and economic affairs presided over by Acting President Choi Sang-mok a little while ago.

[Choi Sang-mok / Acting President]
Let's start the meeting of ministers related to state affairs and economic affairs.

Korea is now in a situation of domestic and foreign exchange.

Due to changes in the international situation, the trade environment is changing rapidly, and the topography of diplomacy and security is changing.

Uncertainty surrounding our economy is also growing due to the launch of a new U.S. government and the domestic political situation.

There is also great anxiety and concern among many people whether the nation's overall capacity to respond to the crisis will weaken.

I promise the people once again.

We will concentrate all policy capabilities on state affairs and early economic stability so that the people can live their daily lives without worrying.

To this end, all ministries and former State Council members will become one team to communicate more often and greatly strengthen the cooperative system.

As a national policy control tower, we will start the meeting of ministers related to state affairs and economic affairs in earnest from today.

We will operate as a venue for practical discussions with the ministers of related ministries to thoroughly check all areas of state affairs, including society, diplomacy, security, and security, as well as the economy.

In particular, as the internal and external situation is changing in real time, we will hold a weekly meeting to discuss major issues for the time being.

Today's meeting will discuss ways to revive the economy and people's livelihoods.

First of all, we have prepared measures for the Lunar New Year holiday at the end of January so that it can be an opportunity to recover the people's livelihood and a time to recharge for the people who worked hard last year.

First, we will do our best to stabilize the prices of holiday shopping baskets.

Consumer prices are expected to be around 1.8% per year this year, but some agricultural prices are still high, and inflationary pressures are high at the beginning of the year due to demand for holy goods and base effects following the early Lunar New Year.

In response, the government will supply 2.65 million tons of high-quality goods and invest 90 billion won, the largest ever in government discount support, to stabilize prices by 50 percent. Second, we will actively ease the burden of people's livelihoods.

We will provide 39 trillion won in holiday funds to small and medium-sized enterprises and small business owners and support various public welfare projects as quickly as possible before the Lunar New Year.

By January, more than 790,000 "direct jobs" will be quickly hired, and work incentives and unpaid wages will be paid early before the Lunar New Year.

Third, we will stimulate domestic tourism that is likely to shrink recently.

In order to give the people enough time to rest and promote domestic travel, we will consider designating a temporary holiday on January 27 based on public opinion.

We will support transportation convenience, such as the exemption of highway tolls during the holiday season, and open various cultural facilities for free.

We will ensure that there is no negligence in the safety of the people during the holiday.

To this end, we will announce it soon through the 'New Year's Holiday Safety Management Measures', which contains detailed safety management measures for each sector.

We will pursue policy tasks included in the economic policy direction in 2025 as quickly as possible to manage our economy in a stable manner.

First of all, so that domestic demand can be activated as soon as possible...