President Park Geun-hye on Monday vowed to revive the nation’s sluggish economy in the New Year by pushing ahead with drastic reform efforts.

“We must put everything we have into the three-year economic reform plan, keeping in mind that the new year would be the last golden time for us to revitalize the economy,” Park said at a meeting to review 38 major state agendas pushed by her administration this year.

Since early this year, Park has urged officials to ease unnecessary business regulations and eradicate wrongdoings in officialdom, stressing that they pose greater threats to the nation’s slowing economy already suffering from multiple external risks.

“Reform is not always easy and is bound to meet resistance. But if we don’t do it now, we would leave a big burden for our future generation,” she said.

“I will push ahead with reform, whatever difficulty I may face.”

Her remarks on Monday was viewed as renewing her strong determination to achieve economic reform, and suggesting that she would try to launch more intensive reform measures in the New Year. Officials say that the president expects to see substantial progress in her state reform agenda next year as she enters her third year in the office. Park’s term ends in early 2018. By law, Korean presidents cannot seek a second term.

The president also stressed that next year was the right time to push ahead with reform, adding that there were no nationwide elections scheduled for 2015.

At the meeting held with Prime Minister Chung Hong-won, Cabinet members and senior presidential secretaries attending, Park urged her staff to complete reform works in the job market, financial industry, national pension system, and the education and housing sectors.

Looking back on the year, Park said that the nation’s economy had suffered from uncertainties in global economies, weakened consumer confidence and a series of massive accidents. However, the president said that her government has made “flat-out efforts” to overcome both difficulties from in and out of the country and to realize her four major state agendas. Early this year, Park said she would drive economic, state reforms, and prepare for peaceful unification and improve people’s livelihood.

Her remarks, however, provoked criticism by some media that she was blowing her own trumpet, despite public dissatisfaction with how she has done her job this year. Yoo Min-bong, senior presidential secretary for state affairs planning, told reporters in the afternoon that the president was just trying to encourage officials, stressing that the atmosphere was far from self-praising.

On North Korea, Park also said that the government will make efforts to bring peace to the Korean Peninsula next year. She didn’t elaborate on specific plans.

The president plans to meet political leaders and heads of government ministries on Jan. 2. She also plans to hold a New Year’s news conference, where she is expected to announce her state vision for the New Year.

By Cho Chung-un (christory@heraldcorp.com)