Presidential Office: "Chief of National Planning to Provide One-Stop Support to Ministry of the Interior and Safety... Reform Has Difficult Aspects"

President Yoon Holds Morning Meeting with Aides "Chief of National Planning as Contact Point"
Presidential Office: "Vice Minister System is Management Level... Will Work to Address Difficulties"

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] On the 9th, President Yoon Seok-yeol ordered Lee Gwan-seop, Senior Secretary for National Planning, to provide 'one-stop service' support for the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's tasks. This appears to be an assignment to fill the work gap caused by the suspension of Minister Lee Sang-min's authority following the passage of the impeachment motion the previous day, and to play a role in coordinating cooperation among the Presidential Office, the Prime Minister's Office, and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.

A key official from the Presidential Office said to reporters at the Yongsan Presidential Office building in the afternoon, "Currently, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's tasks are divided: local administration under the Senior Secretary for Political Affairs, personnel under the Personnel Secretary or the Public Service Discipline Secretary, and disaster management under the National Situation Room," adding, "In this situation, it is difficult for the Vice Minister to act on behalf of the Minister's duties, so the Senior Secretary for National Planning is to serve as a channel to provide 'one-stop service' for the Ministry of the Interior and Safety."

However, the official admitted, "There are aspects of scheduled events related to government innovation that are difficult to proceed without a minister," and confessed, "Under the vice minister system, management can only be maintained at a level lower than we had hoped." This acknowledged the limitations in reform and national agenda implementation due to the work gap caused by the minister's absence, but emphasized, "Nevertheless, we will supplement while considering the practical difficulties."

After arriving at work that day, President Yoon held a meeting with senior secretaries and also conveyed requests regarding public safety and livelihood management. A senior official from the Presidential Office elaborated, "The meeting was held as usual to receive reports on current issues and prioritize the situation, including a message to monitor concerns about the national administration gap caused by Minister Lee's impeachment."

The day before, the Presidential Office strongly opposed the impeachment by issuing a press release 20 minutes after its passage, stating it would be "recorded as a shameful history in legislative history," but appeared to regain composure within a day for normal government operation. When the idea of appointing a 'powerful-type vice minister' was raised, they immediately responded, "Such consideration is not currently underway," and Vice Minister Han Chang-seop of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety also chaired an emergency executive meeting to review major issues and instructed, "In this grave situation, please perform your respective roles without wavering."

The Presidential Office also stated that aides and related ministries will work together to ensure there are no setbacks in the reform tasks and detailed national agenda initiatives overseen by Minister Lee. Follow-up measures on government reform, recently emphasized by President Yoon, are also expected to be discussed with related ministries such as the Presidential Office and the Office for Government Policy Coordination to set the direction.

In political circles, it is believed that the Presidential Office's immediate push for a 'Plan B' right after Minister Lee's impeachment may have further provoked the opposition party. With the People Power Party's party convention approaching and President Yoon already embroiled in 'intervention controversies,' additional exhausting conflicts are considered unnecessary. An official from the ruling party interpreted, "(The Presidential Office's) expectation of the Constitutional Court's judgment ultimately serves to prove that the opposition party has hindered national administration."

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