President Lee urges Cabinet members to respect National Assembly

President Lee Jae Myung presided over the weekly Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

There, he urged the Cabinet members to respect members of the National Assembly who've been elected by the people.

Also addressed were a host of issues related to people's livelihoods.

Top Office Correspondent Yoon Jung-min reports.

"The National Assembly is an institution directly entrusted with power by the people, so I ask our Cabinet members to have a sense of respect for them when you go there. It's about the basic order of the state."

President Lee Jae Myung began Tuesday's Cabinet meeting by noting that all power comes from the people, and officials elected by the people come before those who were appointed.

He pointed out that there seems to be a "misunderstanding" with parliament, and urged the Cabinet to respect the Assembly.

Present at the meeting were some of the Cabinet members from the former Yoon Suk Yeol administration.

He went on to pay attention to the livelihoods of the people, particularly the vulnerable, with the nation in the middle of the summer rainy season.

"During extreme heat, people living in small rooms, the elderly, and the vulnerable suffer crises. Please pay extra attention and take good care of them."

Lee also turned to another matter affecting the lives of Koreans: real estate.

He said the stock and financial markets have been recently "normalized," and began to serve as investment options other than the property market, pointing to a tendency in Korea where speculation in real estate often leads to housing market instability.

Last week, the nation's financial watchdog announced strict measures to tighten household lending to curb soaring home prices in the capital.

Discussions on Tuesday included how to use some of the land left fallow in the border area of Gyeonggi-do Province following the relocation of the U.S. military sites to Pyeongtaek.

"President Lee instructed the Defense Ministry to proactively review and report measures to deal with the issues regarding the land returned by the U.S. Forces Korea in northern Gyeonggi-do Province."

Among the items endorsed at the Cabinet meeting was an agreement to establish a free trade zone between South Korea and Ecuador, aimed at expanding bilateral trade and investment.

Yoon Jung-min, Arirang News.