Lee Jae-myung: "I Will Recommend Priority Vaccine Shots for Export-Oriented Entrepreneurs to the Government"

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park No-hun] Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung has come forward with a recommendation to the government for priority vaccine shots for export-oriented entrepreneurs.

Governor Lee announced through SNS on the 4th, "After the first round of vaccine inoculation is completed primarily for socially vulnerable groups, high-risk populations, on-site response personnel, and medical staff, I recommend that the government add overseas trade entrepreneurs to the 'priority vaccination recipients' list."

The governor stated, "First-quarter GDP growth increased 1.6 percent compared to the previous quarter. Our entrepreneurs are achieving good results despite recent difficulties. It is the government's responsibility to create appropriate conditions for them to work properly on the frontlines of the global market," and further said, "Above all, the economy is important. Just as we have protected health and livelihoods through proactive quarantine measures and comprehensive disaster relief funds, now is the time to pursue economic recovery and growth through a flexible vaccine rollout response."

The following is the full text of Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung's SNS post.

<Recommendation to Add Overseas Export Entrepreneurs to 'Priority Vaccination Recipients'>
I recommend that the government add overseas trade entrepreneurs to the 'priority vaccination recipients' list after the first round of vaccine inoculation is completed primarily for socially vulnerable groups, high-risk populations, on-site response personnel, and medical staff.
The current vaccination program for essential-purpose entrepreneurs takes a long time from application to completion. Since procedures must go through processes taking nearly two months—requiring either being deemed unavoidable or epidemiologically high-risk, or being recognized as an important economic activity through departmental review—it is impossible to respond when urgent overseas travel is necessary.
Rather than the form of essential-purpose reviews, we must support entrepreneurs' economic activities through priority preventive vaccination. Exports, which are the mainstay of the South Korean economy, have shown an increasing trend, with first-quarter GDP growth rising 1.6 percent compared to the previous quarter. Our entrepreneurs are achieving good results despite their recent difficulties. It is the government's responsibility to create appropriate conditions for them to work properly on the frontlines of the global market. The reason other local governments such as Busan have also come forward with recommendations for priority vaccine shots for export entrepreneurs is likely because they share this same awareness of the issue.
Above all, the economy is important. To escape the prolonged tunnel of COVID-19 and return to our precious daily lives, the economy must recover. Just as we protected health and livelihoods through proactive quarantine measures and comprehensive disaster relief funds for economic defense, now is the time to pursue recovery and growth of our economy through flexible vaccine rollout measures.