Anchor: Wrapping up his first two years in office, President Yoon Suk Yeol held a news conference, apologizing for economic difficulties the working class is going through and key controversies surrounding his administration, including suspicions related to the first lady. Yoon also shared his plans for his remaining three years in office, introducing a new government headquarters focused on tackling the record-low birth rate.
Kim Bum-soo has more.    

Report: Ahead of the start of his remaining three years in office, President Yoon Suk Yeol apologized to the public for failing to improve the livelihoods of the people. 

During a televised news conference on Thursday, President Yoon addressed the nation, sharing his plans for the years ahead.  

[Sound bite: President Yoon Suk Yeol (Korean-English)]
"My heart is heavy and I am sorry that the difficulties in people’s livelihoods are not easily resolved." 
"Dear Korean citizens, over the last two years, the government and I have exerted efforts to launch policies to deal with urgent public livelihood issues and to reform Korean society. However, it was not enough to change your lives. For the next three years, the government and I will heed public opinion and pay more careful attention to the livelihoods of the people."   

Yoon on Friday begins his third year in office in his five-year single term presidency in the wake of the ruling party's crushing defeat in the April 10 general elections. 

One of the president’s key priorities is to tackle the nation's record-low birth rate, establishing a new headquarters to handle the issue. 

[Sound bite: President Yoon Suk Yeol (Korean-English)]
"First of all, I will mobilize all of the country’s capabilities to overcome the low birth rate, which is a national emergency."  
"We will do our utmost to pursue policies focused on balanced regional development and reforming social structures in order to resolve needlessly excessive competition in our society, which is one of the causes of the low birth rate. To pursue these policies properly, I will launch a new government agency, tentatively called the 'low birth response planning ministry' to prepare for the low-birth, aging society." 

Following his 20-minute speech, Yoon met with reporters for more than an hour, addressing thorny issues his administration is facing, including suspicions related to his wife.

[Sound bite: President Yoon Suk Yeol (Korean-English)]
"As I already mentioned during my interview with KBS earlier this year, I have been apologizing for causing concerns because of the less-than-wise behavior of my wife. Regarding the prosecution's announcement of the launch of an investigation, I will not comment on it because if I do, it may give a misconception that I am trying to influence the probe."

First Lady Kim Keon-hee is a political target of the opposition, which is calling to get to the bottom of her alleged involvement in a stock-price manipulation scandal as well as her acceptance of a luxury handbag from an acquaintance, which was secretly filmed.

Yoon, however, made it clear that he will refuse the repeated call for an independent counsel investigation into accusations surrounding the first lady, stressing that she was already cleared of suspicions of her involvement in market manipulation through exhaustive investigations by the previous government.  

The president during the news conference also hinted that he will reject the opposition-led bill for a special counsel probe into a controversial military report on the death of a Marine, regarding which ranking officials are suspected to have wielded their influence in a bid to protect the top brass of the Marine Corps.

Yoon said it would be more proper to leave the matter to an ongoing investigation, and that he would agree to the appointment of a special prosecutor in the event the probe turns out to be insufficient. 
Kim Bum-soo, KBS World Radio News.