Moon delivers cheerful interview

The Blue House on Friday released an 11-minute interview with President Moon Jae-in to mark his 100th day in office the day before, in which he answers a number of questions about his new home, where he settled in three months ago.

The interview, uploaded on the Blue House web site and Facebook, was part of the presidential office’s continuing effort to present the president as a people-friendly leader, as opposed to the domineering and overbearing atmosphere created by the remnants of dictatorship from the 1960s through the 80s.

The video was shared 425 times and viewed 33,000 times on Facebook as of 6 p.m. Friday, about eight hours after it was posted.
In a cheerful mood, Moon answered questions about what he does after work at the Blue House and what he thinks of his new nickname, “Innie,” taken from his name Jae-in, as well as what has been the most memorable moment during his time in office so far.

“I particularly liked attending the anniversary commemoration for the May 18 Gwangju uprising for democracy,” said the president with a smile.

He recalled giving consolation to a woman during the ceremony who read a letter to her father, who had died during the uprising. Remembering that she cried as he hugged her, he said, “I wished I could give her a sense of consolation so that her sorrow could melt away.”

Regarding what he thought of his nickname, “Innie,” he laughed and said, “I like it.”
Moon expressed his gratitude for overseas Koreans who greeted him with cheer during his foreign visits. He also said he took notice of foreigners holding welcome signs during such visits.

“I think it was a sign of respect for our country for having achieved a change of power through the candlelight revolution and the impeachment of our president in accordance with the Constitution and democracy.”

The interview is a series of online features that the Moon Blue House has rolled out since his inauguration on May 10, just a day after its victory in the May 9 snap election. Always attributing its ascent to the people’s power, and in particular, the candlelight protests against the disgraced former President Park Geun-hye, Moon often stresses the importance of communicating with the people.

Such efforts appears to be working. In a poll of 1,000 adults nationwide on Monday and Tuesday, conducted by the JoongAng Ilbo, 83.9 percent of respondents approved of Moon’s job performance. Of those, 36.8 percent credited his ability to communicate and empathize with the people.

BY KANG JIN-KYU [kang.jinkyu@joongang.co.kr]