Presidential Office Undergoes Reorganization

President Lee Myung-bak conducted a reorganization of the presidential staff Wednesday.

The highlight was the creation of the post of senior secretary for social integration tasked with expanding the presidential office’s communication with the public, religious circles and civic groups while listening to voices from all walks of society.

The position of senior secretary for social policy will be merged with that of the senior secretary for social welfare, and will be responsible for developing policies for low- and middle-income households.

The president also abolished the post of senior secretary for state affairs planning in charge of developing policy agenda. Instead, the lower post of policy support officer will be installed to check progress in the implementation of key policies.

In addition, the post of future strategy planning officer will be created to oversee science and technology, broadcasting, information and telecommunication, and the environment and green growth to seek future engines for economic growth.

The post of officer for presidential messages will be integrated into that of the senior secretary for public communications to unify the functions of media policy, message control and presidential identity management.

A new office will also be set up for overseas public relations and the number of presidential spokespersons will be halved to one.

The post of senior secretary for planning and management will be turned into the office of planning and coordination. The public security officer under the senior secretary for civil affairs will be transferred to the senior secretary for political affairs.

The post of the senior secretary for culture, sports and tourism will be split into two – one for culture and sports and the other for tourism promotion – to enhance Korea’s national brand through tourism.

The presidential office will consist of a chief of staff, one chief policy officer, eight senior secretaries, and four planning officers.

With the reorganization, the reshuffle of the presidential office will gain momentum. President Lee is expected to announce the replacement for his chief of staff Chung Chung-kil early next week at the latest.

Appointments of senior presidential secretaries will likely come after the ruling Grand National Party holds its national convention July 14.

yongari@donga.com