Civil society figure from Ulsan; served as inaugural autonomous police committee chair

Key post reporting directly to president; predecessor reflects on role defending approval ratings

Cheong Wa Dae. [Yonhap]
Cheong Wa Dae. [Yonhap]

Kim Tae-geun, the Cheong Wa Dae secretary for autonomous development, has been tapped to lead the presidential office's national affairs situation room — a key post responsible for monitoring major issues across government and reporting directly to the president.

According to ruling party sources Sunday, Kim is expected to move to the national affairs situation room as early as Sunday to begin his official duties.

A native of Hoengseong in Gangwon Province, Kim built his career primarily in Ulsan's civil society. He served as the inaugural chair of the Ulsan Metropolitan City Autonomous Police Committee and previously held positions as secretary-general of Ulsan Citizens' Solidarity and chair of the human rights committee at the Ulsan Metropolitan Police Agency.

The head of the national affairs situation room serves directly under the presidential chief of staff and is responsible for gathering key information and crisis developments from across the government, reporting them directly to the president and coordinating swift responses. The officeholder also attends the president's weekly regular meetings with the prime minister.

Meanwhile, Kim's predecessor, Kim Jeong-woo, has left Cheong Wa Dae. In a Facebook post Sunday titled "Graduating from the National Affairs Situation Room of the People's Sovereignty Government at Cheong Wa Dae," the outgoing chief reflected on his tenure, writing: "If the role of each senior secretary's office and secretariat is to raise the administration's approval rating, I believed the role of the national affairs situation room was to prevent it from falling."

"Whenever the administration's approval rating declined or I felt we had not responded adequately to the issues at hand, I tried to reflect on myself, review our response systems and work to improve them," he added. "Even so, looking back, there is much I regret."


sunpine@heraldcorp.com