Former President Lee Myung-bak made his first speech after being pardoned. This is his first public speech in over five years since he was arrested and indicted on charges of bribery and embezzlement in 2018.
Former President Lee gave a keynote speech at the ‘2023 Small Business Leaders Forum’ held at Lotte Hotel Jeju on the 12th and said, “I haven’t been able to see you all because I have been traveling to remote areas for several years,” and “I came back from a long trip at the end of last year and am now bringing small business owners together in one place. ” “It’s my first time meeting you,” he said.
This is presumed to be a comparison of the five years he was imprisoned on charges of bribery and embezzlement since 2018 as a trip to a remote area.
Former President Lee mentioned the time of his term, including the 2008 global crisis, and said, “(At that time) everyone worked hard, including our small and medium-sized business presidents, business people, civil servants, and financiers. The civil servants received two years’ worth of salary. “Everything was frozen, and large companies reduced all starting salaries,” he recalled.
At the same time, he said, “I asked the presidents of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions not to fight for wage increases, and everyone cooperated.” He added, “The United States donated $30 billion, China $30 billion, and Japan $30 billion, so the three countries contributed $90 billion.” “We signed a currency swap agreement. It was an unprecedented amount in world history,” he emphasized.
Former President Lee said, “I think there have been two times in history when the global economy fell by more than minus 3%, but Korea was the only one to grow by 0.2%. This is actually not the president’s good deed, but our businessmen’s (good deed).” emphasized.
He continued, “I still feel grateful to those in business, especially small and medium-sized businesses, who contributed greatly to overcoming difficulties during the crisis.”
Former President Lee said, “The last time I watched the (Small and Medium Business People’s Convention), I saw that the president had the president of a small business sitting next to him, and I thought, ‘This is a good thing.'” He added, “How difficult is the current global economy. But there is a crisis that cannot be overcome.” “I don’t think there is. I think it will be difficult this year, next year, and the next two years, but you all need to come together and work together to overcome the crisis,” he said.
Lastly, he said, “Someone says, ‘Don’t stand behind, you can’t go in front, you can’t go in front, don’t stand behind.’”바카라 He added, “I think I’m at that point now. I will walk next to you and be your friend.” Finally, he added, “I hope that Chairman Kim Ki-moon can play a bigger role as a small business during his term.”
Meanwhile, this ‘Small and Medium Business Leaders Forum’ was prepared to bring together about 400 small and medium-sized businesses from various industries and regions across the country to design the roles and commitments of small and medium-sized businesses for Korea’s leap forward under the theme of ‘Small and medium-sized businesses running again, a bigger Korea.’