By Yoo Yeon Gyeong

President Lee Jae Myung on Aug. 15 said, "As a loyal servant of the sovereign people of the Republic of Korea, I will move forward in only trusting the people toward a nation where the people rule and everyone is happy."

At the "people's appointment ceremony" at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul that evening held on the occasion of Liberation Day, he said, "I feel infinitely honored yet responsible in receiving the certificate of appointment that contains the longings of the people on the 80th Liberation Day, when the light of sovereignty taken from us was regained."

After assuming office on June 4 right after being sworn in at the National Assembly, President Lee declared the launch of his "government of national sovereignty" to the world on the occasion of the country's 80th year of liberation.

At the ceremony, 80 leading public figures awarded the certificate to President Lee including Mok Jang-gyun, a member of the Heritage of Korean Independence and the son of independence fighter Mok Yeon-wuk of the Korean Liberation Army; Lee Cook-jong, director of the Armed Forces Daejeon Hospital; Lee Yeon-soo, CEO of the innovative company NC AI; and movie director Heo Gayoung.

"The Republic of Korea, the 10th-largest economic power in the world, is thanks to those who protected the country by sacrificing their youth and others who achieved modernization through their sweat," President Lee said. "Whenever the nation experienced a crisis, all of you held the brightest light and drove away that darkness that enabled our democracy earned with blood to breathe again."

"As our great 80 years of modern history have proven, the source of the Republic of Korea's national power has always been its people," he added. "My national sovereignty administration will always put the people, the source of the country's strength, at the center of its philosophy of and vision for national governance."

dusrud21@korea.kr