Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik's abrupt offer to resign is seen as a desperate measure to win back public sentiment at a time when President Lee Jae-myung's approval rating has slipped into the 30% range. In particular, as controversy over vetting in the second round of cabinet changes snowballed, Kang appears to have concluded that he could not remain in a post that oversees government personnel decisions. Analysts also say the move reflects an intention to settle the dispute through voluntary resignation, after suspicions surfaced that the so-called Gyeonggi-Seongnam line, made up of the president's closest confidants, had intervened in personnel appointments.
On the background to Kang's offer to resign on the 21st, political circles said the decisive cause was the successive withdrawals of Kim Seung-won, the nominee for justice minister, and Yong Hye-in, the nominee for minister of gender equality and family. Yong, seen as a card for "unifying the progressive camp" among the second-round cabinet changes announced on Aug. 30, stepped down 14 days after her nomination as controversy grew over her insistence on keeping her proportional representation seat. Kim withdrew just one day after the president's news conference, even though the National Assembly had adopted his confirmation hearing report despite the spread of allegations over lobbying related to a new drug. A petition containing allegations of sexual harassment against Kim was later reported to have been delivered to the presidential office, further highlighting questions about responsibility for flawed vetting, centered on Kang.
Analysts say that under these circumstances it would have been a burden for Kang to continue serving as chairman of the presidential personnel committee, which handles appointments of officials at the ministerial level and above. On top of that, once suspicions were added that the Gyeonggi-Seongnam line — including Kim Hyun-ji, first senior secretary at the presidential secretariat, and Jung Jin-sang, former director of political coordination at the Democratic Party of Korea — was involved in recommending ministerial nominees, Kang moved to take responsibility and seek a way out. His decision to offer his resignation just hours before the president's trip to the United States and Mexico is read as an attempt to avoid carrying the personnel controversy into the trip.
Shin Yul, a professor at Myongji University, said, "As suspicions grew about unofficial channels intervening in personnel decisions, Kang, who heads the official channel overseeing appointments, would have wanted to send a message that no unofficial channel exists by resigning." He added, "For now, the aim is to block the spread of the allegations, buy time and catch a breath."
Lee is expected to hold off on immediately accepting Kang's offer and continue weighing the matter. Kang was appointed chief of staff in the first set of personnel announcements after Lee took office on June 4 last year, and he has served not only as a close aide to the president but also as special envoy for strategic economic cooperation, leading some to observe that finding a replacement may not be easy.
At a meeting of senior secretaries that day, Lee said, "It seems the chief of staff has finally said he would like to 'graduate' from here." He added, "I still cannot decide what to do." He also offered encouragement, saying, "Many of our aides, including the chief of staff, have worked very hard through a period that was difficult even physically."
Still, with the post of policy chief already vacant following the resignation of former policy chief Kim Yong-beom, the decision cannot be delayed indefinitely. That has raised the possibility of a sweeping reshuffle of the president's aides once Lee returns from the trip to the United States and Mexico. Above all, with approval ratings continuing to decline, some expect that Lee could use Kang's offer as an opening for a personnel overhaul and a basis for securing fresh momentum in running state affairs.
In a message to presidential office staff that day, Kang said, "Looking after the lives of the people and supporting the president's management of state affairs is the duty entrusted to us." He added, "Our ranks must not fall into disarray regardless of my own position."
The rival parties took opposing positions. Within the Democratic Party, the chief of staff's offer to resign was largely accepted as a foregone step, given that the president had pledged to renew his administration. A first-term Democratic Party lawmaker said, "Having served the president as his closest aide, he must have felt that he could not shift the responsibility onto others once the president repeatedly cited his own shortcomings."
The People Power Party, by contrast, argued that the personnel controversy would not end with Kang's resignation alone. Jang Dong-hyuk, leader of the People Power Party, said, "Aren't the people who really must take responsibility the 'Gyeonggi-Seongnam line' that is said to control the presidential office?" He argued, "We passed the point where replacing the chief of staff could solve this long ago. The cabinet and the presidential office must be overhauled entirely." Chung Jom-sig, the party's floor leader, raised his voice, saying, "The senior secretary for civil affairs at the presidential office, who is responsible for the working-level recommendation and vetting of appointments, must also take responsibility."
