Presidential policy chief reflects on first year of Lee Jae Myung administration; thanks those who offered encouragement

Kim Yong-beom, chief of the presidential policy office, attends a roundtable on the future of South Korea's shipbuilding industry hosted by President Lee Jae Myung at Hotel Hyundai by Lahan Ulsan on May 13. [Yonhap]
Kim Yong-beom, chief of the presidential policy office, attends a roundtable on the future of South Korea's shipbuilding industry hosted by President Lee Jae Myung at Hotel Hyundai by Lahan Ulsan on May 13. [Yonhap]

Kim Yong-beom, chief of the Cheong Wa Dae policy office, marked the first anniversary of the Lee Jae Myung administration Saturday by reflecting on a year of economic contrasts — record corporate earnings pushing Kospi above 8,000 points, even as the won-dollar exchange rate hovered around 1,550 won. "The good and the difficult alike are all unfamiliar challenges we have never faced before," he wrote on Facebook.

Kim said he began his role as policy chief exactly one year earlier that afternoon, stepping into a daunting landscape of 13 consecutive quarters of negative retail sales alongside surging housing prices. "I had no idea where to even begin looking for answers," he wrote. He added that a photo of himself standing in the press room — wearing a suit and tie for the first time in years — brought back the dazed, heavy feeling he carried at the time.

"And now, one year later on this Saturday, I find myself facing yet another unfamiliar scene," Kim wrote. "Corporate earnings are at record highs and Kospi is trading above 8,000, yet the exchange rate sits around 1,550 won. Both the good and the hard are territory we have never been to before."

Kim closed by crediting the people around him for helping him through the year. "Looking back, it was the good people by my side that allowed me to get through the past year," he said. He added that he was deeply grateful to those who offered encouragement at difficult moments — "like a cool sip of water" — and said, "Thanks to them, I held on."


moone@heraldcorp.com