An Exclusive Meeting with President Mr. Jokowi in Indonesia

Sang-ki Lee, the founding Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and publisher of Asia Journalist Association (AJA) had visited and interviewed President Mr. Joko Widodo (Jokowi) of Indonesia in the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on May 3, 2016.

During his interview, Mr. Jokowi said “Every politics start from the citizens,” and he added, “that is why I meet our people in their everyday lives, so that I can feel their emotions, read their minds, and try to reflect and adopt their ideas, because they are the owners of this country.”

Mr. Jokowi recalled, “I was persistently in pain and agony, from running a furniture shop as a son of a carpenter, running for the mayor of Sura Karta, governor of Jakarta, and now the President,” and continued, “by moving up each step, I realized the value of hardship as I first-handedly experienced the pain.”

Mr. Lee was accompanied by the Presidential Office Chief of Staff, Mr. Teten Masduki, during the interview.

During his meeting with Mr. Lee, Mr. Jokowi made a remark that “this is an opportunity to bring hope to young people not only from Korea and Indonesia, but all over the world,” and advised Mr. Masduki to plan accordingly.

TheAsiaN will publish a series of face-to-face and written interviews with Mr. Jokowi in three to four parts in Korean, English, and Arabic.