Nominee for Minister of Planning and Budget to Take Office on January 2 Next Year
"High Inflation and Strong Dollar Are Burdening People's Livelihoods"
"Need to Link Planning and Budgeting with a Long-Term Vision"
Lee Hyehun, nominee for Minister of Planning and Budget, stated on the 29th, "In the short term, our economy is in a perfect storm," adding, "It is necessary to identify and eliminate unnecessary expenditures and to boldly invest in livelihoods and growth." A perfect storm refers to a phenomenon in which individually minor events, such as typhoons, occur simultaneously with other natural phenomena, creating tremendous destructive power. In economic terms, it is commonly used to describe a severe global economic crisis.
Lee made these remarks while meeting with reporters on her first day at the confirmation hearing preparation office set up at the Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation in Dadong, Seoul. She emphasized, "Our economy and society are facing a grave situation," and added, "We are confronted with a structural and complex crisis that is undermining our growth potential. The dual challenges of high inflation and a strong dollar are placing a heavy burden on people's livelihoods."
She cited five major structural issues facing the Korean economy: the demographic crisis, the climate crisis, severe polarization, dramatic shifts in industry and technology, and the disappearance of local regions. She diagnosed the current situation as a 'gray rhino' scenario, not a 'black swan' event that emerges suddenly and unexpectedly, but a threat that everyone has long been aware of and ignored despite repeated warnings, leading to a critical risk.
Lee Hyehun, nominee for Minister of Planning and Budget, is greeting the press as he arrives at the confirmation hearing preparation office set up at the Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation in Jung-gu, Seoul on December 29, 2025. Photo by Kang Jinhyung
She continued, "I believe that we need strategic thinking that looks further and longer than short-term responses, and it is in this context that the Ministry of Planning was established." She added, "The Ministry of Planning is the control tower for strategic planning that designs the future of the Republic of Korea, and it is a ministry that takes steps toward the future."
Lee explained, "It is necessary to link planning and budgeting," and clarified, "Rather than allocating budgets on an ad hoc, short-term basis, we should connect planning and budgeting with a long-term perspective toward the future." She further emphasized, "We will transform the Ministry of Planning into an organization that looks further ahead, that is agile and flexible, that shares authority and increases participation, and that transparently discloses its operations to the public."
Regarding the expansionary fiscal policy stance of the Lee Jaemyung administration, she refrained from specific comments, saying, "I will address that at another opportunity." As a mainstream economist who has emphasized fiscal soundness, Lee is seen as being at odds with the expansionary fiscal stance of the Lee Jaemyung administration.
President Lee Jaemyung nominated Lee, a three-term lawmaker who previously served in the Grand National Party, Saenuri Party, and United Future Party, the predecessors of the People Power Party, as the inaugural Minister of Planning on the previous day. With this nomination, the possibility that the Ministry of Planning, which will be launched on January 2 next year as part of the government reorganization, would start without a leader has been resolved. However, due to the confirmation hearing and appointment process, the ministry is expected to be vacant in its initial phase.
Within government circles, the appointment is being described as an "unprecedented and unexpected personnel move." This is because a figure from the opposition, rather than a close aide of the president, has been appointed to a key post controlling the budget. Until now, candidates such as Second Vice Minister of Economy and Finance Lim Gegin, Democratic Party lawmaker An Dogeol, and Ryu Deokhyun, Senior Secretary for Fiscal Policy at the Presidential Office, were considered frontrunners, mainly from the bureaucracy and the ruling party. There was widespread speculation that President Lee, who has emphasized the role of fiscal policy, would appoint a progressive figure as the inaugural head of the Ministry of Planning to implement expansionary fiscal policy.
The Presidential Office highlighted Lee's rationality and expertise, citing her experience as secretary of the National Assembly Special Committee on Budget and Accounts and as a research fellow at the Korea Development Institute (KDI) as reasons for her selection. The office stated, "She is well-versed in both policy and practice," and added, "Based on her philosophy of economic democratization, she has sponsored bills such as the Minimum Wage Act and the Interest Rate Cap Act, and has promoted policies to eradicate unfair trade and revitalize the livelihoods of ordinary people."
Lee is a mainstream economist who has been active in conservative politics for over 20 years. Born in Busan, she graduated from Masan Jeil Girls' High School and the Department of Economics at Seoul National University, and earned her Ph.D. in Economics from UCLA in the United States. Immediately after her nomination the previous day, Lee issued a separate statement, saying, "I deeply agree with President Lee Jaemyung's principle of appointing the right person for the job regardless of political affiliation, without disadvantaging anyone based on their political color," and added, "It has long been my belief that solving economic and livelihood issues is a task that requires cooperation from everyone, regardless of faction or ideology."
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