Yoon Administration's First Presidential Office Reshuffle... Over 50 Dismissed Amid "Growing Pains Every Regime Faces" (Comprehensive)

- Jeon Hee-kyung appointed as Secretary for Political Affairs 1, Jang Kyung-sang as Secretary 2... Kang In-seon spokesperson becomes Overseas Public Relations Secretary
- Presidential Office: "Personnel disorder is naturally possible... Reforms will continue as needed"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The first personnel and organizational reshuffle of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration's presidential office has been completed. Although about 50 people, including secretaries and administrative officers, have left their positions, the presidential office did not attach much significance to the number, stating that "reform will continue." However, they conveyed the position that "at first, it would be good to understand it as the growing pains that any administration goes through."

On the afternoon of the 7th, Kim Dae-gi, Chief Secretary to the President, announced the first reshuffle plan at a briefing at the Yongsan presidential office, saying, "There has been a reorganization and personnel reshuffle of the secretariat." First, Jeon Hee-kyung, former Saenuri Party (now People Power Party) lawmaker, and Jang Kyung-sang, former Secretary-General of the National Management Research Institute, were appointed as the first and second secretaries for political affairs of the presidential office, respectively. Kang In-seon, presidential office spokesperson, moved to the overseas public relations secretary position, concurrently serving as overseas public relations and foreign press spokesperson, while the spokesperson position will remain vacant for the time being, and the office will operate under a joint deputy spokesperson system with Lee Jae-myung and Cheon Hyo-jung.

Organizational restructuring was also carried out. The Digital Communication Secretary's Office under the Senior Secretary for Civil Society was transferred to the Public Relations Senior Secretary's Office, and the Religious and Multicultural Secretary's Office under the Senior Secretary for Civil Society was renamed the Social Sympathy Secretary's Office. The Public Relations Senior Secretary's Office will establish a new Overseas Public Relations Secretary's Office along with the transfer of the Digital Communication Secretary's Office. This position will concurrently serve as the foreign press spokesperson and will be held by Spokesperson Kang.

Jung Yong-guk, Secretary for Civil Petitions at the Prime Minister's Office, was appointed as the Secretary for National Proposals under the Senior Secretary for Civil Society. Kim Dae-nam, administrative officer, and Jeon Seon-young, senior administrative officer, will serve as acting secretaries for Citizen Communication and Social Sympathy, respectively, under the Senior Secretary for Civil Society.

A presidential office official said about the scale of the personnel reshuffle, "It will be about 50 people (so far)," adding, "Personnel reform and secretariat reform will continue as needed." It was confirmed that administrative officers were recommended to resign based on evaluations by their superiors, such as senior secretaries and secretaries, and left the presidential office in the form of resignation.

The official explained the reshuffle process, saying, "After 100 days, we received all the work descriptions and diagnosed whether each person was suitable for their organization or not," adding, "Then, we looked at work discipline from various angles and checked whether the functions and roles assigned to each person were appropriate." He continued, "Personnel reform is not done for political purposes but focuses on how to operate more efficiently and effectively to provide the best public service to the people," and said, "We left the judgment to the senior secretaries."

Regarding criticism that "only the prosecution line survived," he responded, "There are only three secretaries from the prosecution background," adding, "Legal and public service discipline is originally handled by prosecutors, and there is about one personnel secretary." When asked about Bok Doo-gyu, a general prosecutor personnel planning officer, he said, "He has been in charge of personnel affairs for over 10 years in the prosecution organization of 12,000 people," and praised, "Having worked with him, he handles personnel matters very objectively."

However, about this reshuffle, he confessed, "At first, it would be good to understand it as the growing pains that any administration goes through." The official added, "Personnel confusion can naturally occur. At first, people don't even know who is who, and they don't know how to operate at what scale, so people just come in randomly."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.