SEOUL, South Korea — South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol held a rare press conference Thursday, admitting “shortcomings” after his party’s recent electoral defeat, and laying out policies on issues from the country’s low birthrate to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The press conference was the president’s first in nearly two years, and comes after his party suffered a drubbing in legislative elections last month.
On Ukraine, Yoon vowed to keep strong ties with Kyiv while maintaining a smooth relationship with Russia, ruling out direct weapons shipments and telling reporters that it was his “firm stance” not to send lethal arms to countries at war.
On South Korea’s birthrate, o ne of the world’s lowest, he unveiled plans to create a ministry to tackle the issue, which he described as “a national emergency”.
His party’s defeat in the April 10 parliamentary elections prompted calls for Yoon to change his policy direction and leadership style, as his approval ratings languish less than halfway through his five-year term.
Yoon said he has “pondered a lot over what have been the shortcomings” of his administration.
“Communication to explain policy drives and the extent of change people have felt has fallen short,” he said.
Yoon won the 2022 presidential election by the narrowest margin in South Korean history, and his term has be en hampered by a series of scandals and his party’s lack of a parliamentary majority.
The president also issued an apology for what he called the “unwise conduct” of his wife, first lady Kim Keon Hee, after hidden camera footage last year appeared to show her accepting a luxury handbag in violation of governm ent ethics rules.
But Yoon said the opposition’s call for a special probe into the first lady was “politically motivated”.
His plan to fix the country’s woeful birthrate comes after it hit a record low in 2023, despite the government pouring billions of dollars into efforts to encourage women to have more children and maintain population stability.
Yoon said he would ask law makers to cooperate “to set up the Ministry of Low Birth Rate Counter Planning”,
“We will be creating a low-birth planning department in order to establish a more aggressive and powerful control tower,” he said.
“In order to overcome the low birth rate, which can be considered a national emergency, we will fully mobilise all of the state’s capabilities,” he added.
The country’s fertility rate -– the number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime -– dropped to 0.72 in 2023, down nearly eight percent from 2022, according to preliminary data from Statistics Korea in February.
That is far below the 2.1 children needed to maintain the current population of 51 million, which at these rates will nearly halve by the year 2100, experts estimate.
Yoon, who has taken a tough line with the nuclear-armed North, said his country’s ties with Moscow had been strained by what Seoul and ally Washington say are arms shipments from North Korea to Russia.
“North Korea’s export of offensive weapons not only supports the illegal waging of war in relation to Ukraine, but also clearly violates UN Security Council sanctions resolutions related to North Korea’s nuclear weapons,” Yoon said.
Despite tensions with Moscow over the purported arms shipments, Yoon said he aims to “manage our relationship with Russia as smoothly as possible”.
But he said Seoul would not be revising its longstanding policy of not selling arms into active conflicts, which has prevented it from providing military aid to Ukraine.
Seoul has long sought to join the ranks of the world’s top arms exporters — aiming to be the fourth largest, behind the United States, Russia and France — something that is now possible, industry research indicates.
MANILA, Philippines – The Ateneo Blue Eagles bolstered their lineup by acquiring two young basketball prospects ahead of UAAP Season 87.
Coming off a failed title defense in UAAP Season 86, Ateneo has secured the commitments of 18-year-olds Kristian Porter and Femi Edu, the team announced on Thursday.
Porter, a 6-foot-5 forward, is fresh off his second Mythical Five season in the UAAP high school ranks with the Blue Eaglets, where he averaged 18.1 points, 15.5 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game in his senior season.
He earlier played for Gilas Boys in the FIBA Under-18 Asian Championship in 2022.
Porter, who earlier played for the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu, will reunite with fellow Magis Eagles Jared Bahay, Michael Asoro and Raffy Celis, along with former Gilas youth teammates Mason Amos, Kyle Gamber, Kobe Demisana and Lebron Nieto.
The 6-foot-4 guard Edu, on the other hand, is the younger brother of Gilas big man AJ. He will be arriving in the country in June after graduating from the Copleston High School in Ipswich.
The Katipunan-based squad saw key cogs Kai Ballungay, Jared Brown and Gab Gomez depart following the roller-coaster season 86.
Edu and Porter, though, are expected to plug in the holes left by the players.
Blue Eagles head coach Tab Baldwin raved about the two players joining the team.
“We’re really happy with Kristian being part of the program. He will be an impact player very quickly. We need depth in our frontline, and he provides that. He is going to play significant minutes for us. I love his basketball IQ,” Baldwin said.
“Our goal with Kristian is to develop his physical attributes as well as his skills. As an undersized big man, we aim to expand his game and transition him towards the perimeter. He has to work really hard to achieve that, but his basketball IQ and skill level will allow him to be an impact player right away,” he added.
Baldwin said that Edu’s athleticism and size will give Ateneo an edge, but acknowledged that the teenager will have to transition from the England style of basketball to the Philippine way.
“As everyone knows, England’s a soccer-dominated culture. There’s experience and competition he needs to adapt to,” he said.
“He is an outstanding young man from a good family, and we are excited to have him in our program.”
Porter will enroll in the university’s Interdisciplinary Studies program, while Edu will enter the Computer Science program.
The Blue Eagles’ core for next season will include veterans Chris Koon and Sean Quitevis.