Yoon appoints former prosecutor Kim Joo-hyun as first senior secretary for civil affairs

President Yoon Suk-yeol on May 7 reinstated The Office of Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs in the presidential office and appointed Kim Joo-hyun (63), a former prosecutor who served as Vice Justice Minister, as the first senior secretary for civil affairs under the Yoon administration. A presidential campaign pledge to abolish the position was broken after two years Yoon took office. The opposition accused Yoon of “trying to save his family from judicial risks by taking control of the prosecution.”

The president held a briefing at the presidential office in Yongsan, Seoul, to announce the reorganization of the presidential office and the appointment of senior secretary for civil affairs. "I said I would not establish an office of senior secretary for civil affairs if I became president, and I have maintained the stance, but I have received a lot of advice to reinstate the position since I took office because the presidential office’s function of public hearing became so weak," Yoon said.

The new senior secretary for civil affairs has worked as a lawyer at Kim & Chang after serving as the director of the prosecution bureau at the Ministry of Justice and the Vice Justice Minister during rhe Park Geun-hye administration.

In the past, the Office of Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs was criticized as a means of maintaining an imperial presidential system due to its prominent role in controlling inspection agencies. “In the past, the Office of Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs, which took control of inspection agencies, frequently controlled political opponents under the guise of legality,” Yoon said in March 2022, when he was the president-elect.

The appointment of a former prosecutor to the post is expected to be controversial, as it is said to be aimed at “taking control of inspection agencies” and “preparing for judicial risks.” Yoon said, “If there is a judicial risk, it is a matter of me, and if there is a controversy over me, I should explain and resolve it, which is not what the senior secretary for civil affairs has to do."

The Office of Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs will be newly created and the Office of the Secretary to the President for Civil Service Discipline and the Office of the Secretary to the President for Legal Affairs, which are currently under the Chief of Staff, will be transferred under the senior secretary for civil affairs. Yoon appointed Lee Dong-wook, a spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, as the secretary for civil affairs, and Lee Won-mo, a former prosecutor who served as the presidential secretary for personnel affairs, as the secretary to the president for civil service discipline.

Choi Min-seok, a spokesman for the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, said, "It can only be seen as an intention to increase the presidential office’s control of inspection agencies."

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.