Moon takes a day off to rest after Nordic trip

President Moon Jae-in took a vacation day on Monday after returning from his trip to the Nordic states.

The president is entitled to use 21 days of annual leave, and Moon used a full day Monday to rest at the Blue House.

Moon still received a briefing from Justice Minister Park Sang-ki recommending Yoon Seok-youl as the new prosecutor general. Moon confirmed the nomination and the Blue House made the announcement in the morning.

This is Moon’s first day off from his presidential duties this year. He used a half-day leave on May 24 to visit his private home in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang, after he attended a rice planting event in the nearby city of Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang.

As of now, the president has used 1.5 days out of his 21 annual vacation days. Last year, Moon used 12 out of 21 days.

“He is just resting,” said Blue House spokeswoman Ko Min-jung on Monday.

“There is no specific schedule. And nothing has been decided on future use of annual leave. We will think more about it when the summer vacation season comes.”

Moon, who returned to Korea on Sunday following an eight-day tour of Finland, Norway and Sweden, will focus on a series of crucial diplomatic events scheduled for next month. Moon will attend the Group of 20 Summit in Osaka, Japan, at the end of this month, and U.S. President Donald Trump will visit Korea for a bilateral summit after the G-20 meeting.

Moon has publicly and repeatedly asked North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to meet with him in the coming days before Trump’s visit. He has said he is willing to meet with Kim anywhere, anytime and under any format, but no announcement of an inter-Korean summit was made as of Monday afternoon.

Meanwhile, the Blue House said Moon will host a welcome event for the country’s U-20 men’s football team, which finished the U-20 World Cup in second place last week. Moon already issued a congratulatory message to the team on Sunday.

No specific date for the event is fixed yet, the Blue House said.

BY SER MYO-JA [ser.myoja@joongang.co.kr]