Kim Min-seok's tenure ends as party leadership race looms

President Lee Jae Myung's announcement Sunday of a nominee to succeed Kim Min-seok formally set in motion the prime minister's departure. Kim declared upon taking office a year ago that he would be a "dawn prime minister — one who watches over the people through the night," and made a point of visiting the front lines of government work across sectors. Yet the prevailing view in government circles is that he fell short on organizational control and raising his own public profile.

The first major priority Kim threw himself into after taking office was ensuring the successful hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Gyeongju, which was fast approaching.

With a sense of urgency over broad shortfalls in preparations — from infrastructure to programming — Kim visited the site eight times in a relatively short period to personally oversee the work, and the event was widely judged a success.

It was also the prime minister's office, under Kim's leadership, that spearheaded efforts to heal the wounds left by the emergency martial law episode and rebuild the country — from the "Constitution-Respecting Government Innovation Task Force" to the "National Normalization Project."

Prosecution reform, a national land transformation initiative and suicide prevention were among the other major policy agendas Kim championed during his tenure.

From early this year, Kim also extended his reach into diplomacy in a manner unusual for a prime minister, making two visits to the United States.

On the first trip, he established a direct line with Vice President JD Vance. On the second, he held a surprise meeting with President Donald Trump, covering a range of issues including the prospects for North Korea-US dialogue and trade matters.

He also secured the participation of major international organizations in South Korea's bid to become a global AI hub.

From February, Kim additionally took on the self-appointed role of the government's disciplinarian-in-chief.

His stated aim was to push each ministry harder so that the first anniversary of the Lee Jae Myung administration could be marked with tangible achievements.

From March, he also headed the government's emergency economic task force set up in response to the prolonged war in the Middle East.

As the president's approval rating held consistently high since the administration took office, public assessments of Kim also grew more favorable over time, and observers said his political standing had risen by a notch.

Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik said at a briefing Sunday that he was "deeply grateful for Prime Minister Kim Min-seok's hard work in overcoming the insurrection and leading South Korea's recovery," adding that "it would not be an overstatement to call the achievements of the Lee Jae Myung administration over the past year, in effect, Kim's achievements."

Now, just past the first anniversary of the Lee administration, Kim is expected to return to Yeouido around the time the confirmation process for nominee Han Seong-suk is completed and launch a full-scale bid for the party leadership on the strength of his record as prime minister.

A key factor in that contest will be how the results of the June 3 local elections are ultimately assessed.

At the KBC "New Honam Forum" held at the Kim Dae-jung Convention Center in Gwangju on Saturday, Kim acknowledged that the June 3 local election results had drawn mixed assessments, saying, "Now is the time to tighten up again and push for renewal."

Kim also drew persistent criticism for communications failures — the prime minister's office went roughly three months without a director of public affairs after he took office, and after the communications director resigned in February, the replacement appointment was delayed for four months.

There is also a widespread perception in government circles that Kim had been known even before taking office to plan on serving only about a year before running for party leader — a reputation that undercut his organizational authority. Voices from within the office also raised concerns that he brought in legislative aides from the National Assembly, cutting off communication with career staff.