TASKS UNDERTAKEN OVER THIRTY DAYS

Hello and welcome to Press Perspective for this Monday July 7th here in Seoul.

I'm Min Sunhee.

President Lee Jae Myung has ushered in his second month at the top office and in our panel session today we touch upon the tasks that have been undertaken and those that remain to be tackled.

For this I have Steven Borowiec with Japanese weekly news magazine Nikkei Asia.

Steven hope you had a good weekend.

I also have Fabian Kretschmer with German news agency dpa.

Fabian it's good to have you here.

Steven, President Lee Jae Myung recently held a press conference to mark his first full month at the top office. What are some of the early actions taken by the president after his inauguration that caught your attention?

And Fabian, what are some of your takeaways from the Lee Jae Myung administration's first thirty days at the top office?

Steven, the first supplementary budget of the Lee Jae Myung administration passed the parliament last week. Do tell us about this extra budget and its intentions.

Fabian, this extra budget also boosts investment for artificial intelligence here in Korea. What has been shared about the Lee Jae Myung administration's policy on AI?

Moving forward, Steven, you covered the president's acknowledgement about a tariff deal with the U.S. by this week's deadline being difficult. Now his top trade negotiator is the U.S. for related talks. What's the latest on that front?

Also, Fabian, talking about tariffs, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has called for a quick deal between the EU and the U.S. Do share with us his comments and concerns.

And Steven, what can you briefly tell us about Japan's tariff negotiation with the U.S.?

Fabian, back here in Korea, President Lee Jae Myung has also been actively seeking to engage directly with the public here. Following his first town hall meeting in Gwangju late June, he held a second one in Daejeon last week. What are your thoughts with regard to these efforts of engagement?

All right.