Moon to deliver New Year's address next Monday

President Moon Jae-in will issue his formal New Year's message next week, Cheong Wa Dae said Friday.

During the address slated for Monday, he is expected to unveil policy priorities in the fifth year of his presidency, with South Korea locked in a prolonged fight against COVID-19.

Moon plans to emphasize that people here will recover their daily lives through "win-win cooperation" and that they will head "with power" toward the goal of making South Korea a "leading country," according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kang Min-seok.

Speaking rather briefly at the annual new year meeting with social and business leaders Thursday, Moon said 2021 is the year of "recovery, national unity and progress" for South Korea.

He added during the event held via video links, "If conditions allow, (my administration) will make efforts to the last for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, permanent peace and development of inter-Korean relations."

The president's job approval ratings have been on the decline over the past few months amid a resurgence of coronavirus infections nationwide, real estate market instability and lingering controversies over the prosecution reform drive. (Yonhap)