President Moon Jae-in said Thursday the 21st National Assembly must eradicate politics of confrontation and hostility and open a new era of cooperative politics.

In a speech during the opening ceremony of the new Assembly held Thursday, Moon said politics of cooperation are even more necessary during times of change and global crisis such as today. 

He said that despite the achievements and efforts made by the 20th Assembly, the public held the body in low regard. Moon said real life politics have failed to catch up with the rising political awareness of the Korean people.

He said the biggest failure was the failure to cooperate, a failure for which everyone was to blame, including himself. 

President Moon asked political parties to live up to the public's call for bipartisan cooperation to overcome national challenges while also competing through policy measures and better politics.

He asked the Assembly to lead efforts in national unity.

He also called for parliamentary cooperation in the Korean New Deal stimulus project and real estate measures to curb home prices.

Moon said that failure to proactively respond in the post-coronavirus era will leave Korea a second-rate country for good, and stressed that the Korean New Deal is the key to the future.

He also urged legislative efforts especially in promoting deregulation, moderating conflicts of interest and strengthening the social safety net.

But he underlined that real estate is the top legislative concern and vowed to pursue all available means to stabilize housing prices and suppress speculative investment.