Hajung Kyung and Tosun Hak Lead Blue House Economic Team 2.0... Sharpening the Distinctiveness of Lee's Economic Philosophy

The Lee Jaemyung Administration Maintains the Core Economic Policy Framework
Focus Shifts Toward "Social Policy"

President Lee Jaemyung has promoted Hajung Kyung, Senior Secretary for Economic Growth, to the position of policy chief, and appointed Tosun Hak, Vice Minister at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, as the new Senior Secretary for Economic Growth. With these changes, the identity of the Blue House’s economic team in its second year is expected to become even more distinctive. The administration plans to maintain the core framework of its existing growth policies but focus its policy capacity on expanding the fruits of growth into jobs, income, housing, and regional development. As a scholar who has served as President Lee’s “economic advisor” since the 2022 presidential election, Hajung Kyung will now head the comprehensive policy control tower spanning both economic and social affairs, while Tosun Hak, a seasoned industrial official well-versed in the real economy, will be responsible for executing industrial and investment policy.

Chung Eui-yong, policy chief at the Blue House

On October 1, President Lee chose to promote Hajung Kyung, who has participated in policy designing as Senior Secretary for Economic Growth since the launch of the administration, rather than bringing in someone from outside to replace former Policy Chief Kim Yongbeom. This move is seen as a commitment to continue fostering strategic industries such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI), and data centers, alongside normalization of the real estate market, revitalization of capital markets, and expanded corporate investment—instead of shaking up existing policies, the administration plans to keep them and broaden their scope to include social policy.

Hajung Kyung is considered to be closely aligned with President Lee’s economic philosophy. As a scholar who has studied Schumpeterian growth theory with a focus on corporate innovation and productivity, he has described himself as “a Keynesian who specializes in Schumpeterian growth theory.” While identifying innovation and investment as the engines of growth, he has also emphasized the government’s role in distribution and the importance of social safety nets. During the 2022 presidential election, he served as chairman of President Lee’s campaign’s Transformative Fair Growth Strategy Committee, and he has continued to advise on economic policy since then.

Going forward, Hajung Kyung will not only coordinate economic policy but also oversee social affairs, including welfare, education, housing, and balanced regional development. Ahead of the senior aides’ meeting on October 1, President Lee addressed him, saying, “Our policy chief has long been called a ‘social economist.’ I ask you to now pay special attention to the social policy field.”

Moon Sunghak, Senior Secretary for Economic Growth at the Blue House Photo by Yonhap News

Tosun Hak, who will work in close partnership with Hajung Kyung, will be tasked with bringing these growth strategies to fruition in the industrial field. Entering public service through the 38th civil service exam, he has served in various roles such as Director for Semiconductors and Displays, Director General for Nuclear Power Industry Policy, and Spokesperson at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. As a veteran industry official with extensive experience in industry policy, energy, and trade, he handled key industrial agendas such as semiconductors, AI, and restructuring of the petrochemical sector during his tenure as vice minister. In particular, pushing ahead rapidly with the government’s ongoing “three mega-projects”—semiconductors, physical AI, and data centers—including supply chain restructuring and a full-scale transition to AI across industries, is expected to be one of Tosun Hak’s main responsibilities.

This marks the first time in approximately nine years—since the first Blue House economic team under the Moon Jae-in administration, which included Policy Chief Jang Hasung and Senior Secretary Hong Jangpyo—that neither the policy chief nor the senior economic secretary is a former Ministry of Economy and Finance official. The appointment of an industry official as senior secretary is also the first since Senior Secretary Park Wonjoo in the Moon administration. At a personnel briefing the previous day, Senior Secretary Seong commented, “Senior Secretary Tosun Hak is an expert in the real economy and will help restore the potential growth rate through a practical, execution-driven economic growth strategy.”

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