President Lee Jae-myung on the 29th reassigned Kim Nam-jun, a core figure of the so-called "Seongnam line" and chief secretary to the first lady, as Presidential Office Spokesperson, and moved General Affairs Secretary Kim Hyeon-ji to chief secretary to the first lady. As a result, the one-person system of Spokesperson Kang Yu-jung has changed to a two-person system with male and female Spokespersons. Secretary Kim, who had been in charge of personnel and general affairs, will oversee the president's schedule and accompanying and protocol duties. With whether Secretary Kim will appear at the National Assembly's audit of the government emerging as a key political issue, some note that the move shifted her to a post without an obligation to appear.
Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik announced the reassignment in a written briefing that day. He also said the personnel secretary and the balanced personnel system secretary will be placed under the senior presidential secretary for personnel, which was announced on the 9th. The digital communications secretary, currently under the senior presidential secretary for public communication, will be moved directly under the chief of staff to strengthen the "digital communication function." In addition, to enhance the efficiency of policy publicity, the office of the policy publicity secretary and the office of the state publicity secretary will be integrated.
A Presidential Office official said, "Over the past 100 days, we have stacked bricks one by one from nothing, and only now has it settled to some extent," adding, "We judged it was time to reorganize personnel functions, so we adjusted the work a bit." On the unusual move to have two Presidential Office Spokespersons, the official said, "It is because we need to strengthen communication," and added, "Compared with the previous administration, the volume of briefings will be more than double."
It is very unusual for the Presidential Office to have two Spokespersons. Distributing the role of the "mouth" of the nation's top decision-maker could risk causing message confusion. Even so, some see this kind of reassignment as a measure for Secretary Kim. With Secretary Kim regarded as the president's "shadow power broker," the view is that a position was intentionally created in consideration of pressure for her to appear at the audit of the government.
The Presidential Office did not specify "General Affairs Secretary Kim Hyeon-ji" in its official materials that day. It has already been openly said in political circles that her post would be changed to avoid Secretary Kim's appearance at the audit of the government. In response, a Presidential Office official said, "There is no precedent for attaching real names when explaining reassignments related to the secretarial organization of the Presidential Office," adding, "We will follow the National Assembly's decision. Her position is that if the National Assembly tells her to come, she will go."
Secretary Kim's reassignment was so expected that it was mentioned within the party. Park Sang-hyeok, the Democratic Party's deputy chief for floor communication, appeared on KBS radio that day and said, "There is talk that the presidential secretariat is undergoing internal reorganization. We need to identify where Secretary Kim Hyeon-ji will be located." Under the National Assembly Act, witnesses and references for the audit of the government are adopted by agreement between the ruling and opposition parties within the competent standing committee. As the pan-ruling camp, including the Democratic Party, holds more than 180 seats, even if the opposition demands Secretary Kim's appearance, it will be difficult if the ruling party objects.