Yoon names seasoned bureaucrat Lee Kwan-sup as new chief of staff

Lee Kwan-sup, new chief of staff [Photo by Yonhap]

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday named Lee Kwan-sup, a seasoned bureaucrat, as his new chief of staff after Kim Dae-ki offered to resign, about 100 days ahead of the general elections.

“I have been the chief secretary for over 20 months since the presidential transition committee,” Kim, the outgoing chief of staff, said. “If history is any guide, there were more than three chief secretaries, so I thought that my term of 20 months, which is about one-third of the president’s term, could be sufficient. I discussed my intention with President Yoon and he approved it the day before yesterday.”

On November 30, Yoon reshuffled the presidential office by replacing all five top secretaries. Concerned about the potential disruption caused by the change, he retained Kim, but reportedly planned to replace him once the new budget bill would pass the National Assembly in the New Year.

Yoon named Lee Kwan-sup as the new chief of staff to smoothly implement policies ahead of the general elections.

Born in 1961 in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, Lee graduated from Seoul National University with a degree in business administration.

He started his public service career at the Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Energy, the predecessor of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, after passing the 27th civil service examination. He joined the presidential office in August 2022 as senior secretary for policy and planning.

After becoming senior secretary for state affairs planning, Lee demonstrated stable capabilities during times of controversy, such as the 69-hour workweek issue.

When Yoon created a new ministerial level position of chief of staff for policy as part of a reorganization last month, he promoted Lee to the position and, about a month later, named him as his chief of staff.

Lee has served in the presidential office three times, including stints at the Blue House during the previous Kim Young-sam and Lee Myung-bak administrations. He also served as a senior expert for the National Assembly when he was with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and is well acquainted with ruling party figures.