National Policy Planning Committee Busy Preparing Government Reorganization Plan

Some Changes in National Policy Planning Committee Members Following Ministerial Appointments

The National Policy Planning Committee is accelerating the preparation of a government reorganization plan centered on President Lee Jaemyung's campaign pledges.

Within the National Policy Planning Committee, a government reorganization task force (TF) has been formed, led by Park Hongkeun, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party of Korea, to begin work on the reorganization plan. The new administration is pursuing a plan to separate the budget functions of the Ministry of Economy and Finance into a Planning and Budget Office and a Ministry of Finance and Economy, and to merge the financial policy division of the Financial Services Commission into the Ministry of Finance and Economy. It is also considered a foregone conclusion that the energy division of the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy will be merged to establish a new Ministry of Climate and Energy.

The plaque of the National Policy Planning Committee hanging at the entrance of the Changsungdong Annex of the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

Cho Seungrae, spokesperson for the committee, explained, "The establishment of the Ministry of Climate and Energy, the restructuring of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, and issues related to the prosecution, all of which were officially pledged during the presidential election, will be reviewed as priorities."

At the government reorganization TF meeting held on the 23rd, it was reported that the team organized and reviewed the demand for reorganization. The TF plans to give top priority to proposals that were officially included in the president's campaign pledges.

The committee also plans to request that each political party submit their bipartisan campaign pledges proposed during the presidential election, in order to compile them. The formation of a five-year national policy plan TF has also been completed, with participation from Democratic Party lawmakers including Ahn Dogeol, Huh Young, and Hong Sunguk.

Meanwhile, with President Lee's appointment of ministers for 11 ministries the previous day, there have also been changes in some members of the National Policy Planning Committee. With the appointment of Yoon Changryeol as Minister for Government Policy Coordination, the ex officio vice chair representing the government has changed from former minister Bang Kiseon to the new minister Yoon. Kang Sunwoo, a Democratic Party lawmaker who served as a member of the committee's Social Affairs Division 1, has been removed from committee activities after being nominated as Minister of Gender Equality and Family.