President Lee Jae-myung carried out a mid-sized reshuffle of six ministries on the 30th, moving to form his second cabinet. On the economic team, he tapped Lee Hyung-il, first vice minister of finance and economy, as deputy prime minister and minister of finance and economy; Hong Ji-sun, second vice minister, as minister of land, infrastructure and transport; and Rep. Lee So-young of the Democratic Party as minister of SMEs and startups. Rep. Kim Seung-won of the Democratic Party was nominated to the vacant post of justice minister, former Deputy Commander of the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command Kang Shin-chul as defense minister, and Rep. Yong Hye-in of the Basic Income Party as minister of gender equality and family. Notably, the successive replacement of the policy chiefs who stood at the center of public controversy over housing measures, judicial reform and defense reform can also be read as dismissals aimed at soothing public sentiment.
The top task for the new ministerial nominees is to examine why the government's approval rating has fallen to the 30% range and to find ways to restore momentum in governance. Above all, they must listen in a balanced way to the public and to experts in each field, without leaning toward any particular camp. They need to steel themselves to review from scratch the policies that divided public opinion and caused confusion among ministries, and to prepare remedies for policies already in force that have produced side effects. Finely tuned leadership in communication and coordination is also required, so as not to repeat the discord among the party, the government and the presidential office and the conflict among the ruling party, the opposition and the government that arose during Chung Chung-rae's tenure as Democratic Party leader. They should set out this vision and commitment fully at National Assembly confirmation hearings and cooperate faithfully and humbly with scrutiny of their integrity and expertise.
President Lee should also use this reshuffle as an occasion for a governance reset aimed at the economy and people's livelihoods. He must produce remedies for the revised Criminal Procedure Act — pushed through the National Assembly and the Cabinet meeting by the ruling bloc without sufficient deliberation and preparation — before it takes effect on October 2. Given how little time is left, delaying implementation by about a year also warrants active consideration. To calm instability in the property market, the government should open the way for private housing supply through steps such as promoting redevelopment and rebuilding of aging complexes, and refrain from punitive property taxation. It is also important to prepare measures to prevent side effects from the Commercial Act and the so-called yellow envelope law, giving companies room to invest and hire. On security, it should firmly strengthen self-reliant readiness and the South Korea-U.S. alliance so that no controversy arises over a submissive posture toward North Korea, and it needs to approach the question of merging the three service academies with caution. Delivering on the "president for all" and the "pragmatic line" pledged at the inauguration is the way to establish leadership in governance.
