Presidential chief of staff appears before National Assembly audit; outlines first 16 months in office and second-year agenda

Semiconductors, AI mega-projects to drive growth; housing, jobs and finance named top social priorities

Presidential Chief of Staff Im Gwang-hyeon delivers opening remarks at a national audit of the Presidential Secretariat, the National Security Office and the Presidential Security Service held at the National Assembly on Thursday. [Yonhap]
Presidential Chief of Staff Im Gwang-hyeon delivers opening remarks at a national audit of the Presidential Secretariat, the National Security Office and the Presidential Security Service held at the National Assembly on Thursday. [Yonhap]

Presidential Chief of Staff Im Gwang-hyeon appeared before the National Assembly's Steering Committee national audit on Thursday and pledged to make this year the inaugural year of an "irreplaceable Korea" — a nation no other country in the world can substitute for. Im said the administration would build on 16 months of restoring constitutional order and reviving the economy to achieve a national leap forward in its second year in office.

In opening remarks at the audit, Im said the administration had run without pause since taking office, working to restore the constitutional order damaged by the Dec. 3 emergency martial law declaration, reset the foundations of governance, revive livelihoods and the economy, and rebuild shaken international credibility.

Im then reported on the macroeconomic recovery and the results of future-oriented investment. "Despite difficult external conditions, including the situation in the Middle East, exports surpassed $700 billion for the first time in history last July, and we expect exports to reach $1 trillion this year," Im said. "Through record-scale research and development investment, the government has restored the research ecosystem and secured 260,000 GPU units — the core infrastructure of the AI era — steadily laying the groundwork for future growth."

On livelihood stabilization and the expansion of the social safety net, Im said the government had used two supplementary budgets to support small business owners and the self-employed, and had actively addressed issues directly affecting people's lives — including support for jeonse fraud victims and relief from high fuel costs. "We also worked to build a safety net that protects people's daily lives by advancing community-integrated care and a basic income for rural areas, while laying the foundation for young people to build assets and prepare for the future," Im added.

Im also cited achievements in protecting citizens' right to life. "We enacted the Basic Act on Life Safety, enshrining the right to live safely in law and clarifying the state's duty of protection," Im said. "Under this approach, industrial accident fatalities fell to their lowest level on record in the first half of this year, and the number of suicides reached its lowest point since 2017."

On diplomacy and reform of powerful state institutions, Im said the government had restored summit diplomacy with major countries including the United States, China and Japan, and had successfully hosted the APEC summit. "Seventy-eight years after the founding of the Prosecution Service, we separated investigation from indictment, transitioning to a new system of a Public Prosecution Office and a Central Investigation Office, and introduced a law against judicial distortion and a constitutional complaint system for court rulings, establishing institutional safeguards to strengthen accountability in judicial procedures and protect fundamental rights," Im said. Im also highlighted transparent governance practices, including the live broadcast of Cabinet meetings and the disclosure of special activity funds and operational expenses.

For the administration's second year, Im put forward "AI-driven advancement" and "closeness to people's livelihoods" as the two governing priorities. "We will push ahead in earnest with three mega-projects to intensively develop semiconductors, AI data centers and physical AI, nurturing AI as a new engine of growth for Korea," Im said. "We will move beyond Greater Seoul-centered growth, build a foundation for regions to grow on their own, and establish a locally driven growth system."

Im added that the government would promptly inspect the staffing, facilities and operational systems of the newly launched Public Prosecution Office and Central Investigation Office to ensure they meet public expectations and establish a stable investigative framework as quickly as possible. "We will treat housing, jobs and finance — three core social policies closely tied to people's daily lives — as our top priority, attending to them with greater care and strengthening policy execution," Im said.


sunpine@heraldcorp.com