President Moon Jae-in called for the upcoming year 2021 to be a period of great transition for the South Korean economy, saying overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic is a starting point.

At a meeting of the National Economic Advisory Council on Thursday, Moon proposed setting the policy goals for next year as achieving a prompt recovery and turning the domestic economy into a leading economy.

The president said the nation would completely overcome the COVID-19 crisis after containing its spread through all-out quarantine and restoring normalcy in people's lives.

In a proactive approach amid a rapidly changing global economic landscape, Moon called for concrete progress to be made in the country's transition into an eco-friendly, low-carbon economy and a nontact, digitized economy, as well as the Korean New Deal initiative.

The president also pledged to accelerate the acquisition and provision of COVID-19 vaccines, and to provide timely state support for businesses and income brackets hit hardest by the pandemic.