On the evening of the 4th, while dining at a Chinese restaurant in Gwanghwamun, Seoul, a familiar face appeared coming down the stairs inside the place. It was Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik. He had stopped by for dinner with aides before heading out to greet President Lee Jae-myung returning from visits to Singapore and the Philippines. When a greeting was offered, Kang briefly took a seat, asked how things were, and soon stood up. When it was gently suggested that he would have to continue as chief of staff for the time being, he smiled and only said, "Please help a lot."
The leadership of Kang Hoon-sik, the "man who lives with the king," is shining even more amid the Middle East crisis as the United States attacks Iran. Kang released on the 6th that he had secured 6 million barrels of crude oil from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and on the 18th he released that Korea had finalized an emergency import of 18 million barrels.
On the 15th, Kang visited the UAE, which is under attack by Iran, and won a promise for additional crude imports. While he was there, the airport came under missile attack, stretching what was to be a "two days without an overnight stay" trip into "four days without an overnight stay," a measure of how tense the schedule was. Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, chairman of Abu Dhabi's executive affairs authority, whom Kang had met several times and built rapport with, provided major help in the crude import process. President Lee Jae-myung also praised him, saying, "I was worried because it was dangerous, but you did well. The results are better than expected."
Kang's on-the-ground style as chief of staff is drawing reviews that it is different in kind from past presidential chiefs of staff. While chiefs of staff have typically served the president from close at hand, Kang has crisscrossed the globe as a "defense industry special envoy." With the recent Middle East crisis erupting, assessments are that Kang's role and leadership are proving their worth.
Broadcaster Kim Ou-joon on the 19th referred to Kang on his YouTube show with the phrase "training program to foster the next pool of presidential candidates in the Lee Jae-myung presidential style." He said, "It is very unusual for a chief of staff, who oversees the Blue House staff, to fly commercial once every month or two and travel the world," adding, "Starting with defense-industry-related trips and now into energy, Kang is serving as the president's special envoy and traveling across the globe." The assessment is that President Lee moved early to cultivate the next standard-bearer for a return to power. Though somewhat early, there is no disagreement in political circles that under the Lee Jae-myung administration, the presence of a person named "Kang Hoon-sik" has clearly changed.
Across the sea in Japan, Kang's moves are also drawing attention. When Kang posted the results of his UAE visit on his X (formerly Twitter), his post was unusually retweeted multiple times in Japan. Those who retweeted Kang's post wrote, "Korea is delivering results through diplomatic efforts for its people. I envy Korea," "Korean politicians are so competent, I'm jealous," and "In Japan the prime minister harms the national interest, but Korea is conducting diplomacy properly."
Japan, like Korea, is a country with high dependence on Middle East energy. As anxiety in daily life grew—such as potato chip production lines, considered Japan's national snack, coming to a halt amid the recent Middle East crisis—Kang's diplomatic results appear to have drawn attention.
Kang is said to have considered running for the integrated special mayor of South Chungcheong–Daejeon. But when administrative integration fell through, he gave up a run in local elections and stayed on as chief of staff. With Kang remaining in place, the Lee Jae-myung Blue House "three-chiefs" system also continued. A political figure said, "With Kang, a closest aide to the point of being misunderstood as being 'in love' with the president, staying on, the Lee Jae-myung administration, now in its second year, has been able to maintain continuity in its work."
Kang himself raises issues and spans a wide range of policies. Since the start of this year, he has chosen "startups" as a keyword and is backing the fostering of startups and small and midsize businesses and policies for win-win cooperation between large and small firms. Startup support policies dubbed the "heatwave project" inside and outside the Blue House are part of that. When he was in the National Assembly, Kang also led a lawmakers' study group called Unicorn Farm to help foster startups. A political figure said, "Kang is a politician who delivers clear results once he starts something," adding, "That is why the president, who values practicality and outcomes, keeps Kang close and puts him to work."