President's Office Completes First Reshuffle, Focuses on Advancing Second Half National Agenda

Discussion on Regularizing Individual Evaluation and Organizational Diagnosis... Likely to Review 'Performance Evaluation'

On the 16th, one day before President Yoon Suk-yeol's 100th day in office, the Presidential Office building in Yongsan-gu, Seoul is shown. President Yoon, emphasizing the elimination of authoritarianism, moved the stage of state affairs from the former Blue House to Yongsan. With the president's office relocated to Yongsan, the Blue House has been fully opened to the public. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Bae Kyunghwan] The first personnel and organizational reshuffle of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration's presidential office has been completed. Although confusion continues as about 50 people, including secretaries and administrative officers, have left their positions, the presidential office plans to accelerate policy implementation, including national tasks, according to the new organization after the holiday. A senior official of the presidential office also stated, "The reform will continue," adding, "At first, it would be good to understand it as the growing pains that any administration experiences."

The presidential office first replaced both Political Secretaries 1 and 2. Former Saenuri Party (now People Power Party) lawmaker Jeon Hee-kyung and former Secretary-General of the National Management Research Institute Jang Kyung-sang were appointed, respectively. Kang In-seon, the presidential office spokesperson, moved to the Overseas Public Relations Secretary position, concurrently serving as overseas public relations and foreign press spokesperson. 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 Office under the Senior Secretary for Civil Society was transferred to the Public Relations Senior Secretary Office, and the Religious Multicultural Secretary Office under the Senior Secretary for Civil Society was renamed the Social Sympathy Secretary Office. Along with the transfer of the Digital Communication Secretary Office, the Public Relations Senior Secretary Office will establish a new Overseas Public Relations Secretary Office. This position will concurrently serve as the foreign press spokesperson and will be held by Spokesperson Kang.

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

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 advised to resign based on evaluations by their superiors, such as senior secretaries and secretaries, and left the presidential office in the form of voluntary resignation.

The official commented on the reshuffle process, "After 100 days, we received all work descriptions and diagnosed whether each person was suitable for their organization," adding, "Then, we reviewed work discipline from multiple angles and assessed whether the functions and roles assigned were appropriate." He continued, "Personnel reform is not politically motivated but focused on how to operate more efficiently and effectively to provide the best public service to the people," explaining, "We entrusted 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 prosecution official serving as the Personnel Planning Officer, he said, "He has been handling personnel affairs for over 10 years in the prosecution organization of 12,000 people," and praised, "Having worked with him, he manages personnel very objectively."

After the holiday, discussions will be held on regularizing personal evaluations and organizational diagnoses along with the remaining reshuffle work. The aim is to create a "small and strong presidential office." The focus will be on replacement or reassignment based on performance rather than "expulsion," and the economic part within the presidential office is also expected to be included. Since measures have been taken against personnel and organizations that caused controversy or failed to respond to it, it is judged that the time for evaluation based on results is approaching.

A ruling party official said, "The presidential office and related ministries are making frequent external efforts regarding real estate, price stabilization, export issues, etc., but ultimately, what the people evaluate is performance," adding, "Considering international and external variables, by the end of the year, results that the public can feel should be produced."

The presidential office also plans to focus on promoting national tasks and achieving early results after the holiday. A presidential office official said, "With the reshuffle completed, in the second half of the year, we will move nimbly with the National Assembly and ministries to efficiently respond to national tasks and livelihood issues," adding, "Capability-based organizational restructuring for this will continue."

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