Pres. Lee Likely to Continue Reshuffle

Completing reshuffling of his top aides including the presidential chief of staff last week, President Lee Myung-bak will reportedly overhaul the human structure and staff members at Cheong Wa Dae as early as today.

Former lawmaker Park Hyung-joon will reportedly take the newly-created senior secretary level position in charge of policy promotion. Three aides will be assigned to the office. On the shortlist are Korea Economic Daily executive Lee Dong-woo for strategic planning, former transitional committee member Jeong Yong-hwa for speech preparation and current senior Cheong Wa Dae official Lee Seong-bok for message management.

Another office will be created to be in charge of online communication with the public. Former Daum Vice President Kim Cheol-gyun will most likely take the job.

The first and second political affairs secretaries will be incorporated into a single body under the Senior Political Affairs Secretary’s Office. Two more secretaries’ offices are reportedly to be formed to take charge of political planning and public affairs. The former is likely to go to incumbent second political affairs secretary Kim doo-woo and the latter is not determined. Still, many experts point out Liberty Union’s Secretary-General Hong Jin-pyo as the most promising candidate.

The Office of Senior Policy Planning Secretary will be obliterated. Its first and second secretaries will be unified in a single body, and the rest of the functions will likely be incorporated in the Office of Secretary for Land and Marine Affairs.

The Office of Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs will not undergo any changes. But its first secretary position will be taken up by first political affairs secretary Jang Dasaro, and the second position by attorney Oh Se-gyeong. The Senior Economic Secretary’s Office will also be streamlined. Likewise, the subdivisions of the Office of Senior Secretary for Education, Science and Culture will follow the suit.

Former KBS reporter Park Seon-gyu will replace incumbent first press secretary Gwak Gyeong-su, who will be assigned to head Chunchugwan, the Cheong Wa Dae press room. The Office of Secretary for Planning and Coordination, from which Park Yeong-jun resigned, will go to Jeong In-cheol, who served at the presidential transition committee.

A couple of secretaries’ offices are to be created, although the creation is not included in the official structure of Cheong Wa Dae. In addition to special economic aide Sakong Il, former lawmaker Kim Deok-ryong will take the position of special political aide. A senior Cheong Wa Dae official confirmed that respected political figures will fill the posts. President Lee can create the posts whenever he deems necessary.

swpark@donga.com