President Lee Says "No Decision Yet" on Kang Hoon-sik's Resignation... Blue House Aides Reshuffle Likely

President Lee Jae-myung Presides Over Senior Advisors Meeting on the 21st

Remarks to Kang Hoon-sik: "It Seems You Are Considering Graduation"

Acceptance of Resignation Could Lead to Blue House Aide Reshuffle

On the 21st, President Lee Jae-myung stated that he "has not yet decided what to do" regarding the resignation offer from Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik. If the resignation of Chief Kang—who served as the inaugural Chief of Staff under the Lee administration, overseeing personnel, political affairs, and overall government coordination—is accepted, there is a high possibility that the Blue House's operating structure will need to be reorganized.

At the Senior Advisors Meeting held at the Blue House that afternoon, President Lee remarked, "It seems our Chief of Staff is finally considering graduation today." He made this comment in reference to Chief Kang expressing his intent to resign to the President earlier that morning, citing "comprehensive responsibility." President Lee also addressed his aides, saying, "You have all worked very hard," adding, "Coming to work at 6:30 a.m. and working tirelessly for an extended period must inevitably be challenging in many ways." He went on to encourage them, stating, "Including Chief Kang, I want to thank many of you who have worked hard for such a long time."

President Lee Jae-myung and Chief Secretary Kang Hoon-sik are entering the Senior Secretaries Meeting held at the Blue House on the 21st. Photo by Yonhap News

Seong Ki-hong, Senior Secretary for Public Relations and Communication at the Blue House, announced that Chief Kang had submitted his resignation to President Lee that morning. According to the Blue House, since President Lee had repeatedly mentioned his own shortcomings in recent press conferences regarding current state affairs, Chief Kang's intent was to take "comprehensive responsibility" as Chief of Staff. President Lee had stated at the time, "In sum, it is all due to my own inadequacy," admitting a lack of communication and meticulousness. Three days later, with the Chief of Staff expressing his intent to step down, the President's message of self-reflection has now led to questions about the future of his aides.

The immediate trigger appears to be personnel matters. Chief Kang, as chair of the Blue House Personnel Committee, directly announced the second round of cabinet appointments on August 30, which included Kim Seung-won as the candidate for Minister of Justice and Yong Hye-in as the candidate for Minister for Gender Equality and Family. However, following the withdrawal of both nominees—first Yong, then Kim—debate arose over responsibility for the verification and recommendation process. In Kim's case, political controversy continued over how the Blue House and the ruling party responded to and handled the allegations once raised.

The gravity of this resignation extends beyond personnel issues. Since the departure of former Policy Chief Kim Yong-beom on the 1st, the policy chief position has been vacant for 20 days. Should President Lee accept Chief Kang's resignation, both the Chief of Staff and Policy Chief positions—two out of the three major chief posts at the Blue House—would simultaneously be left unfilled. Especially with major pending issues such as real estate, negotiations on U.S. investment, next year's budget, and tax reform, the government would not only need to appoint a new chief for policy coordination but also establish a new control tower for political affairs, personnel, and organizational management.

The decision regarding Chief Kang’s future will likely be made after President Lee’s overseas trip. President Lee is embarking on a five-night, seven-day visit to attend the United Nations General Assembly and make a state visit to Mexico.

Meanwhile, Chief Kang has long been regarded as a key aide in the current administration, even being mentioned as a possible candidate for prime minister as recently as June. If such a change of Chief of Staff becomes reality, President Lee’s choice of successors for Chief of Staff and Policy Chief may signal the direction of his next stage of governance. A Blue House official explained the background, saying, "President Lee explained several times during last week's press conference that, regarding the public's view of state affairs, he attributes the shortcomings to himself," and added, "Chief Kang expressed his resignation as a way of taking comprehensive responsibility as Chief of Staff serving the President."

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