South Korean President Moon Jae-in hopes that the friendship and cooperation between his country and Indonesia will be stronger and stronger in 2019 and in the years to come.

That statement was conveyed by Moon in Indonesian as a greeting to welcome the New Year 2019.

The statement was posted on the official Twitter account of the South Korean presidential office @TheBlueHouseEng which was inserted in Moon`s personal account @moonriver365, marking that the words were made by the South Korean President.

According to South Korea`s Ambassador to Indonesia Kim Chang-beom, the statement was a sign of the closeness of the relations between Indonesian and South Korean leaders.

"It shows the closeness of friendship and partnership between them," Ambassador Kim Chang-beom said via a short message received by Antara here Sunday.

In the remarks linked to the official account of President Joko Widodo @jokowi, @Kemlu_RI (the official account of the Indonesian Foreign Ministry) and the Indonesian people, Moon expressed his appreciation for Indonesia`s support for South Korea which has been fighting for peace for the past year.

"We are able to show great strength because you are always with us," President Moon said as quoted from his post on December 27, 2018.

In the last link, Moon hopes that President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and the Indonesian people will always be healthy and happy.

Earlier, on December 24, 2018, President Moon sent a letter to President Jokowi to express his condolences over the tsunami that hit the coasts of the Sunda Strait on December 22, 2018. (ANTARA)

An earthquake measuring 5.7 on the Richter Scale hit Bengkulu on Sunday afternoon, but no report of casualty and property damaged.

The quake hit at 15.39 local time, with an epicenter in Lebong, 633 kilometers northwest of Jakarta at a depth of 192 kilometers. 

Spokesman of the Bengkulu Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics office Sudianto said the epicenter was on shore, therefore, there is no potential to trigger a tsunami. (ANTARA)

President Joko Widodo President Joko Widodo attended the 2018 National Christmas celebration held in Deli Serdang, North Sumatra, on Saturday (29/12).

“To all Christians, please  always be the  salt and light of the world, by always opening your  heart to receive wisdom. Because blessed is the one who gets wisdom, the profits outweigh gold and silver, more valuable than gems. By accepting wisdom, our path is full of happiness, full of a sense of well-being. With wisdom we work together to build Indonesia. With wisdom we help each other,” said President Joko Widodo..

Furthermore President Joko Widodo also said that a Christmas celebration should be a true celebration for Christians to bring peace to Indonesia. The President also appealed to the entire community to continue to maintain national unity. Meanwhile, the Head of the North Sumatra Regional Police Public Relations Division, Chief Commissioner of Police Tatan Dirsan Atmaja, said that the North Sumatra Regional Police deployed one thousand five hundred police personnel to secure the 2018 National Christmas celebration in Deli Serdang. He said, the number was added with around two thousand TNI personnel to secure more than 15 thousand people present to participate in celebrating Christmas which was attended by President Joko Widodo. (Ndy trans by PUTRI)

President Joko Widodo attended the closing of the JCI 2018 at the Jakarta Stock Exchange.

"I want to express optimism over the development of our stock exchange market," the President said in his remarks at the inauguration of the trading of the stock exchange on Friday afternoon.

The president said the BEI`s achievements in 2018 are in line with the expectations of 6194.49.

According to the President, the performance of IDX had a positive impact amid global economic conditions that were dynamic and difficult to predict.

The optimism over the Indonesia Stock Exchange shows that the Indonesian economy is undergoing a transition from consumptive to productive habits, the President said.

"This happens due to cooperation and collaboration because of the synergy among the monetary sector, the fiscal sector, the real sector, industry and the business world. All three can consolidate well, can work together, collaborate, and complement each other so that we expect our economic growth this year to reach more than 5 percent, Jokowi further stressed.

The President hopes that the Indonesian capital market will become a strong, healthy and stable barometer. (ANTARA)