Presidential Office Official: "Appointments Based on Comprehensive Work Performance"
Possibility of Appointment Among Presidential Aides
President Yoon Suk-yeol is in the final stages of reviewing a plan to replace around 10 vice ministers across 19 government ministries next week. This strategy is interpreted as an effort to accelerate the national agenda in the second year of his administration by significantly reshuffling vice ministers instead of ministers, who require confirmation hearings, to achieve a revitalization effect.
According to the presidential office on the 9th, President Yoon is reviewing the progress of vice ministerial duties and candidate selections in all ministries to prepare for a major reshuffle of vice ministers next week. In political circles and within parts of the presidential office, ministries such as the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Ministry of Unification, Ministry of Economy and Finance, Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and Ministry of Environment are considered likely targets for vice minister replacements.
There is also speculation within the presidential office that vice ministers may be appointed not only from existing civil servants within the ministries but also from the presidential office staff. Since President Yoon has emphasized differentiating from the previous administration across all fields including economic structure, welfare, and foreign security, placing secretaries who have worked in the presidential office since the early days of the administration as vice ministers in various ministries could accelerate policy implementation.
For example, at the Cabinet meeting on the 9th of last month, President Yoon instructed, "If you are stuck in ideological environmental policies like the anti-nuclear power stance and fail to align with the new national agenda, take bold personnel measures." The following day, Kang Kyung-sung, the presidential office’s industrial policy secretary, was appointed as the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. A presidential office official stated, "It is customary in the public service to conduct personnel reshuffles after one year. The presidential office plans to make appointments based on a comprehensive review of the ministries’ and vice ministers’ performance so far." Regarding the ministries and vice minister candidates rumored to be replaced, the official said, "We are currently reviewing, but nothing has been finalized." Accordingly, personnel promotions and appointments within the presidential office may also be carried out in a chain reaction to fill vacancies created by secretaries’ promotions to vice ministers.
It is also reported that President Yoon is considering nominating Lee Dong-gwan, the presidential office’s special advisor for external cooperation, as the new chairman of the Korea Communications Commission in line with the timing of the vice minister reshuffle. This special advisor issued a statement rebutting allegations one by one after the opposition Democratic Party and other opposition forces intensified attacks over his son’s school violence controversy, saying, "Even the opposition party leader has indiscriminately continued ‘hearsay’-style disclosures, and the situation is being distorted, exaggerated, and reproduced. I can no longer remain silent."
In particular, the distribution of this statement by the presidential office has led to interpretations that the nomination is imminent. However, a key presidential office official said, "Since he is a special advisor, the statement was delivered. It does not seem appropriate for the presidential office to comment on the content of the statement now," adding, "There may come a time when we have to mention it. We will discuss it in detail then."
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