[6.29 Cabinet Reshuffle] Yoon Administration's First Reshuffle... Strengthening Government Momentum with Secretary 'Forward Deployment' (Comprehensive)

Replacement of 2 Minister-level Officials Including Ministry of Unification and Anti-Corruption Commission, and 13 Vice Minister-level Officials Including Ministry of Land
Massive Forward Deployment of Presidential Office Staff... "Expecting Flexibility in State Affairs Management"
Broadcasting Commission Nomination Delayed... Concerns Over Cabinet Reshuffle Impact and Transition to Hearing Political Climate

President Yoon Suk-yeol on the 29th appointed Professor Kim Young-ho of Sungshin Women’s University as the new Minister of Unification and former Busan High Prosecutors’ Office Chief Kim Hong-il as the Chairman of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, among other ministerial and vice-ministerial level personnel changes. Judging that some ministries were not keeping pace with President Yoon’s policy direction, the presidential office deployed secretaries to the front lines of ministries, effectively playing a card of personnel reshuffle at the level of a cabinet reshuffle. The surprise appointment of Jang Mi-ran, a former national weightlifting representative and professor in the Department of Physical Education at Yongin University, as the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism also drew attention. However, the nomination of the new Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission was postponed. Although Lee Dong-gwan, the President’s Special Advisor for External Cooperation, was virtually nominated, it appears that concerns about shifting to a confirmation hearing political situation rather than the effect of a reshuffle were taken into account.

On the morning of the same day, President Yoon made appointments of two minister-level officials and thirteen vice-minister-level officials. A senior official from the presidential office stated, “The appointments were made to drive reform momentum in the second year of the administration. Since these appointees deeply understand the President’s governance philosophy, we expect them to quickly produce tangible results that the public can feel.”

At the ministerial level, Kwon Young-se, who had lent weight to the cabinet since the launch of the Yoon administration as Minister of Unification, is returning to the National Assembly. Minister Kwon requested to return to the Assembly to prepare for next year’s general election. This was due to concerns that the public sentiment in Yongsan District, which collapsed after the Itaewon tragedy, could spread throughout Seoul. It is also known that the presidential office supported Minister Kwon’s return, as Yongsan is his electoral district. His successor is Professor Kim, who currently chairs the Unification Future Planning Committee, an advisory body to the Minister of Unification. Professor Kim, who served as Presidential Secretary for Unification during the Lee Myung-bak administration and as Human Rights Ambassador at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, is regarded as a principled figure who has emphasized a hardline approach toward North Korea, insisting on directly raising human rights issues and pressuring North Korea to bring about change.

The new Chairman of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission is Kim Hong-il, a legal advisor at Sejong Law Firm who previously served as Chief of the Central Investigation Department at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office and Chief Prosecutor of the Busan High Prosecutors’ Office. Following the end of former Chairman Jeon Hyun-hee’s term on the 27th, a successor was immediately appointed. Advisor Kim played a key role as Chairman of the Special Committee for Investigating Political Manipulation during President Yoon’s presidential campaign.

At the vice-ministerial level, replacements were made in eleven ministries including Planning and Finance, Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Culture, Sports and Tourism, Environment, and Oceans and Fisheries. Secretaries from the presidential office who best understand the President’s governance direction were deployed to the front lines of ministries. A senior presidential office official added, “These appointees have been involved in refining and supplementing the Yoon administration’s policy tasks since the supplementary budget stage, and we expect them to lead each ministry to achieve goals most efficiently.”

The presidential office places great expectations on the performance of its secretaries following this personnel reshuffle. President Yoon’s long deliberation over appointing many presidential secretaries as vice ministers is in the same context. As the government enters its second year, tangible achievements must emerge, and there is a judgment that half-baked measures and announcements are causing even the policy direction to falter. This is why President Yoon personally ordered, “If someone does not align with the policy direction and takes an ambiguous stance, take bold personnel action.”

Earlier in May, the presidential office had already sent Kang Kyung-sung, former Secretary for Industrial Policy, to serve as the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. This time, presidential secretaries were appointed as vice ministers in the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (both 1st and 2nd Vice Ministers), Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, and Ministry of Science and ICT. Kim Oh-jin, Secretary for Management, and Baek Won-guk, Secretary for Land, Infrastructure and Transport, were appointed as the 1st and 2nd Vice Ministers of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, respectively. Im Sang-jun, Secretary for National Tasks, was appointed as Vice Minister of Environment, and Park Sung-hoon, Secretary for National Planning, as Vice Minister of Oceans and Fisheries. Cho Sung-kyung, Secretary for Science and Technology, was promoted to 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT.

Looking at the movement of presidential secretaries reveals the core issues that President Yoon is focusing on. The unprecedented replacement of both the 1st and 2nd Vice Ministers of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport sends a message not only to stabilize the real estate market, including measures against jeonse fraud and reverse jeonse difficulties, but also to eradicate illegal activities by labor unions such as the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and the Federation of Korean Trade Unions, emphasizing labor reform.

The vice minister positions at the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries are similar. The Ministry of Environment is responsible for ‘scientific verification’ emphasized by President Yoon, including environmental impact assessments of the U.S. THAAD base located in Seongju County, Gyeongbuk Province, beyond the Four Major Rivers Project and solar power projects. The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries must handle issues such as the discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, which has been fiercely opposed by opposition parties including the Democratic Party. Both Im Sang-jun and Park Sung-hoon, appointed as vice ministers of these two ministries, were key figures overseeing President Yoon’s national planning and messaging.

Vice ministers of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Ministry of Economy and Finance, Ministry of Employment and Labor, Ministry of SMEs and Startups, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Ministry of Unification were also replaced. Notably, Professor Jang Mi-ran was a surprise pick as the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, responsible for policy promotion, sports, and tourism. Professor Jang, the first Korean female weightlifter to win a gold medal, earned a silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics and held the top position at three consecutive World Championships starting in 2005.

Kim Wan-seop, Director of the Budget Office at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, was promoted to 2nd Vice Minister. Lee Sung-hee, former Secretary for Labor during the Park Geun-hye administration, was appointed Vice Minister of Employment and Labor. Oh Ki-woong, current Director of the Policy Office at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, was appointed Vice Minister there, and Han Hoon, Commissioner of Statistics Korea, was appointed Vice Minister of Agriculture. The vice ministerial line in the foreign and security ministries was also partially replaced. Oh Young-joo, Ambassador to Vietnam, was appointed 2nd Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Moon Seung-hyun, a former diplomat at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and current Ambassador to Thailand, was appointed Vice Minister of Unification. Kim Chae-hwan, former full-time professor at Seoul Cyber University, was appointed President of the National Human Resources Development Institute, a vice-ministerial post. A related official explained that the reduced number of ministerial replacements was due to “being somewhat embarrassed by the many rumors in the media, and the Yoon administration repeatedly stated that it would change personnel as needed rather than for the sake of changing the atmosphere,” adding, “Now that a year has passed, if necessary personnel changes arise, they will continue.”