Ha Joon-kyung, senior presidential secretary for economic growth, was promoted to head the Presidential Office's policy bureau on the 1st. Moon Shin-hak, vice minister of trade, industry and energy, was named to succeed Ha as senior secretary for economic growth. The appointments complete the lineup of the second-term economic team at the Presidential Office, one month after former policy chief Kim Yong-beom resigned.
Sung Ki-hong, senior presidential secretary for public communication, said Ha had "demonstrated the capability to turn the 'Korea discount' into a 'Korea premium' as the first senior secretary for economic growth under the Lee Jae-myung administration." At a meeting of senior presidential aides the same day, Ha said he would "do my utmost to ensure that social policy, science and technology policy, and economic policy work in harmony with one another."
Moon, an expert on the real economy, will oversee three mega-projects and the development of advanced industries. Kwon Dae-young, vice chairman of the Financial Services Commission and a career financial bureaucrat, was named first vice minister of the Ministry of Finance and Economy, where he will coordinate economic and financial issues including growth, inflation, employment, household debt and financial support for low- and middle-income households. Jung Eui-kyung, head of the land and urban affairs office at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, was promoted to second vice minister of the ministry, taking charge of regional infrastructure and metropolitan transportation and logistics networks. Park Jung-hyun, former head of Buyeo County, was appointed chairman of the Presidential Committee on Decentralization and Balanced Development.
The foreign policy and security team was also reinforced. Song Young-gil, a lawmaker of the Democratic Party of Korea, was named special adviser for peace diplomacy, and Kim Byung-joo, a Democratic Party lawmaker and former four-star army general, was named special adviser for defense policy. Regarding the appointments, Sung said, "Now is the time for execution," adding, "We will be judged by actions rather than words and take responsibility for the results."
Separately, the Presidential Office said it would proceed with the selection process for Kim Ji-yong, the nominee to serve as the first chief of the Major Crimes Investigation Agency, and send a confirmation hearing request to the National Assembly. It dismissed as false claims raised within parts of the ruling bloc that Kim was a prosecutor close to former President Yoon Suk-yeol. Jeon Jong-min, a former judge and attorney at law firm K&C, was named the first deputy chief of the agency, which launches on the 2nd, and attorney Choi Jae-min was named head of its Seoul regional office.
