Moon Jae-in cuts presidential spending and launches a campaign on respect for human rights

The new president will pay his own expenses for his family. The money saved will be used to create jobs and help marginalized people. Meanwhile, a campaign on respect for human rights has started, which will focus on the form of police bodies.

Seoul (AsiaNews / Agencies) - President Moon Jae-in has summoned his secretary today to cut presidential spending and support job creation and the fight against poverty.

Lee Joung-do, Secretary of the Moon for General Affairs, said the president intends to pay for all the expenses related to his family both for the purchase of goods and for any private service from his own pocket. In the presidential budget, therefore, only expenditure on events organized for official purposes would be included. "This is a decision that the president wanted to take for a clear distinction between what can be financed by the taxpayer's money and what cannot," Lee explained during a meeting with journalists.

For this year, a total of 16.1 billion won ($ 14.4 million) were allocated for special presidential activities. Of these, 12.6 billion won, Moon's Secretariat will use 7.3 billion won for the rest of the year, while the remaining funds equivalent to 42 percent of the total will be spent to help create jobs and support marginalized people. Instead, the budget for next year will be reduced by 31 per cent.

Cheong Wa Dae from the presidential office said that Moon will receive regular reports from Korea's National Human Rights Commission. "President Moon Jae-in wants to distance himself from the lack of respect for the human rights of previous administrations and correct injustices," said Cho Kuk, Secretary of State for Civil Affairs. The human rights watchdog is governed by law, but this activity has been purely formal under the management of Lee Myung-bak and has not even occurred under the administration of Park Geun-hye.

The main focus will be on the police forces called upon to develop specific internal control and self-defense measures, as the majority of cases of human rights violations are reported in the security sector.

• South Korea
• jae-in moon
• economy
• presidential expenses
• human rights