President Lee Jae-myung on Monday instructed government ministries to uncover entrenched irregularities, citing what he called a "wildfire cartel" as an example of problems that must not be overlooked.
"Find tasks for normalizing abnormalities by looking from a different perspective," Lee said while presiding over a Cabinet meeting combined with an emergency economic review session at the former presidential office in Cheong Wa Dae. "The millions of civil complaints coming into the government are like a treasure trove."
Lee referred to media reports from the previous day alleging that inadequate recovery from wildfire damage had been caused by substandard companies participating in bids and a "wildfire cartel" that had tolerated such practices. "This is not something that started just a day or two ago but has continued for years. Why didn't the Korea Forest Service and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs know about it?" he said.
"I asked each ministry and agency to identify and correct abnormalities and come up with measures. Are they doing it properly?" Lee said. "We must uncover tasks that are flawed or inefficient among what we have been doing and either eliminate or change them."
He added, "Either listen to the opinions of those with a critical mindset, visit the field, or gather everyone together and examine everything from a critical viewpoint. Unless we make efforts different from what we have done before, we will not see the problems. Even hard work will be a swing and a miss."
