Cheong Wa Dae Policy Chief Kim Yong-beom Steps Down... Will Policy Direction Change?

[Anchor]

Cheong Wa Dae Policy Chief Kim Yong-beom has abruptly stepped down. Following recent cabinet reshuffles involving economic ministry heads, the departure of Kim, the command center for policy, has led to forecasts that changes may occur in the government's policy direction.

Reporter Kang Min-u has the details.

[Reporter]

Cheong Wa Dae held an unscheduled briefing this morning (the 1st) and announced that Policy Chief Kim Yong-beom is resigning.

[Kang Yu-jung / Senior Spokesperson for Cheong Wa Dae: Cheong Wa Dae Policy Chief Kim Yong-beom offered to resign yesterday, the 31st. Accordingly, President Lee Jae-myung accepted his resignation today, September 1st.]

This comes about one year and three months after he was appointed as Cheong Wa Dae's first policy chief under the Lee Jae-myung administration in June of last year.

Chief Kim has spearheaded various policy pending issues, including South Korea-U.S. trade negotiations, the formulation of real estate policies and tax code revisions, the three major mega-projects, and the introduction of single-stock leverage exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

The opposition bloc had previously demanded Kim's resignation, holding him responsible for recent turmoil in the real estate and financial markets. However, despite cabinet reshuffles for economic ministries such as the Ministry of Finance and Economy and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport the day before yesterday, Kim was retained in his post, prompting interpretations that Cheong Wa Dae intended to maintain policy stability.

Nevertheless, with public opinion worsening due to recent financial market turmoil stemming from single-stock leverage ETFs, and President Lee's job approval rating dropping for seven consecutive weeks in various polls to record the 30 percent range, it appears that Kim ultimately stepped down amid the continuing decline in support ratings.

Following the recent cabinet reshuffle, the departure of Cheong Wa Dae's policy chief has sparked interpretations that there could be significant shifts in the Lee Jae-myung administration's policy direction.

In addition, as the three-chief system maintained since the launch of the Lee Jae-myung administration has broken down, a chain reaction of personnel reshuffles within the policy line—including the appointment of a successor to the policy chief—is anticipated.

(Video reporting: Ha Ryung, Yoon Hyeong | Video editing: Won Hyeong-hee)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.