President Lee reorganizes policy command tower entering second year in office

Cheong Wa Dae says Ha will channel energy into making social policy tangible

Appointment signals continuity on economic direction while pushing 'felt improvement'

Speculation mounts over successor to Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik

Ha Jun-kyung, then senior secretary for economic growth, speaks at a senior secretaries' meeting chaired by President Lee Jae Myung at Cheong Wa Dae on Thursday. President Lee appointed Ha as the new policy chief the same day. [Yonhap]
Ha Jun-kyung, then senior secretary for economic growth, speaks at a senior secretaries' meeting chaired by President Lee Jae Myung at Cheong Wa Dae on Thursday. President Lee appointed Ha as the new policy chief the same day. [Yonhap]

President Lee Jae Myung has promoted Ha Jun-kyung, senior secretary for economic growth, to policy chief at Cheong Wa Dae, reorganizing his administration's policy command structure as it enters its second year in office.

The appointment of Ha — who helped design the current administration's economic agenda in his previous role — is widely seen as a move to maintain continuity in economic policy while extending the benefits of growth into areas that ordinary citizens can feel directly, such as housing, jobs and prices.

Seong Ki-hong, Cheong Wa Dae's senior secretary for public communications, said Friday on SBS Radio that Ha "will maintain the overall economic direction while ensuring that improvements in economic indicators translate into warmth that reaches ordinary people." Seong added that Ha "will pour a great deal of energy into making social policies — covering housing, employment and financial services for lower-income households — substantive and real."

Cheong Wa Dae's explanation of the rationale behind the appointment placed particular emphasis on "felt improvement in people's livelihoods."

At Thursday's announcement, Seong described Ha as "a scholar who has consistently integrated social issues into growth strategy," expressing hope that Ha would "play a role in producing tangible results in areas directly tied to people's lives, bridging social and economic policy as policy chief."

The appointment reflects a determination to push policy gains beyond macroeconomic indicators such as exports and growth rates, and into areas where citizens feel real change in their daily lives — real estate, prices and employment.

A Cheong Wa Dae official said Ha has a reputation for being "quiet but willing to speak his mind," adding that "above all, his ability to read the president's intentions well is likely the key reason behind the selection."

Ha's appointment also signals that the administration intends to largely continue its existing economic policy direction.

President Lee ultimately tapped Ha — who had worked closely with former Policy Chief Kim Yong-beom in his capacity as senior secretary for economic growth — as Kim's successor within a month of Kim's departure.

Since the current administration took office, Ha had worked alongside Kim on major economic issues including real estate policy and capital market policy.

With real estate policy cited as a leading factor in the president's declining approval ratings, Ha will likely have to bear the political burden that comes with continuing the current course.

Ha is a native of Jeonju, North Jeolla Province. He graduated from Seoul National University with a degree in economics, earned a doctorate in economics from Brown University in the United States, and later served as a professor at Hanyang University, among other posts.

Speaking at Thursday's senior secretaries' meeting chaired by the president, Ha said upon receiving the appointment: "I will do my utmost as a staff member to ensure that social policy, science and technology policy, and economic policy work in harmony so that we can build a Korea where everyone prospers together. I am grateful to the president for entrusting me with this responsibility."

Moon Shin-hak, vice minister of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, was tapped to fill the senior secretary for economic growth post vacated by Ha's promotion. Moon is a native of Haenam, South Jeolla Province, and graduated from Chosun University High School in Gwangju and Seoul National University's economics department. He entered public service through the 38th class of the state administrative examination.

A career bureaucrat who has held key posts across the industry and energy sectors, Moon brings hands-on experience spanning semiconductor and display policy, oil and gas, and nuclear power.

Political observers widely expect a division of roles to take shape in which Ha, who has a close read on the president's thinking, oversees the coordination of growth strategy and social policy as the administration's policy command tower, while Moon handles the execution of new growth engines in areas such as semiconductors, AI and energy.

As vice minister of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Moon effectively took sole charge of the ministry's three major mega-projects while Minister Kim Jung-kwan traveled abroad for investment negotiations with the United States. Briefing and persuading Assembly members on those projects also fell to Moon.

A ruling party lawmaker said Moon "has been deeply involved in driving the three mega-projects forward, so he is expected to make a significant contribution to accelerating their pace."

President Lee also appointed Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Song Young-gil as special adviser for peace and diplomacy at the presidential secretariat, and Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Byung-joo as special adviser for defense policy. He named Kwon Dae-young, vice chairman of the Financial Services Commission, as first vice minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, and Jeong Eui-kyung, director of the land and urban affairs bureau at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, as second vice minister of that ministry. Park Jeong-hyeon, former head of Buyeo-gun, was appointed chair of the Commission for Balanced National Development.

Meanwhile, speculation over who will succeed Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik has intensified, with Kang having submitted his resignation more than 10 days ago.

Names in circulation include two-term lawmaker Han Jun-ho, who served as the president's chief aide during the 2022 presidential election and represents Goyang-eul in Gyeonggi Province, as well as lawmaker Cheon Jun-ho of Gangbuk-gap in Seoul. Of late, reports have also emerged that former Commission for Balanced National Development chair Kim Kyung-soo and former lawmaker Lee Cheol-hee have surfaced as leading candidates being floated to reassure the Democratic Party's core support base.

A Cheong Wa Dae official said the president "is understood to be giving the matter careful thought, and an announcement should come before long," while playing down speculation that Kang might be retained in his current post.


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