Prime Minister Kim to step down late June or early July, return to ruling party

Prime Minister Kim Min-seok said Monday that he decided to resign because it had become "more necessary and efficient" to support President Lee Jae Myung's administration from within the ruling party rather than from the cabinet. The move is widely read as a signal that Kim intends to step to the forefront of the Democratic Party of Korea and shore up the party-government relationship at the midpoint of the president's term.

Speaking on MBC Radio's "Kwon Sun-pyo's News High Kick" that evening, Kim said, "From now on, it will be better to push legislation through the National Assembly more swiftly, and as we move into the middle of the term there will be various political difficulties — so it is better for the party to support the government and the president in a more stable way."

On the timing of his departure, Kim said he plans to step down after his successor, prime minister nominee Han Sung-sook, completes her confirmation hearing and appointment process. "I think I will be able to step down around late June to early July — without leaving a gap in the prime minister's office," he said.

Kim expressed strong confidence in Han, describing her as someone he had personally had in mind as a successor. "She is one of the people I had in mind for the next prime minister," he said. "Having worked with her at cabinet meetings, I have seen how capable she is and have high expectations. She has the qualities needed to deliver results in restoring livelihoods and the economy, and in leading the AI transformation."

On the question of whether he would run for Democratic Party leader at the party convention in August — the hottest topic in political circles — Kim did not rule out the possibility but declined to give a direct answer. "I think it is more appropriate to address whether I will run after I have formally returned to the party," he said.

Kim also offered an indirect endorsement of the view that President Lee's recent emphasis on "accountability" was aimed at party leader Jung Chung-rae's hardline approach.

While withholding a personal assessment of Jung, Kim said: "The government tosses its approval rating to the ruling party during an election, and the party uses that to produce an election result and tosses it back to the government. In that sense, the local elections produced a result that is hard to call a victory, so any evaluation will come through reflection on that." The remarks amounted to a veiled criticism of the party leadership for failing to convert President Lee's high approval ratings into a satisfactory electoral performance.

On the path forward for party unity, Kim said, "It is true that despite the president's considerably high approval rating going into the election, the results did not meet expectations." He added that the party needed to look back on its record of close party-government alignment and its "livelihood-focused pragmatic expansion" strategy, and recalibrate its direction.

Kim also took a firm stance on reforming the National Election Commission, which came under fire during the June 3 local elections over allegations that it infringed on citizens' voting rights, going so far as to raise the possibility of constitutional reform. "We cannot abolish it, and we cannot place it under the administration," he said. "It needs to be subject to external oversight and monitoring, but that is difficult under the current constitutional framework — so my personal view is that we may need a single-point constitutional amendment covering exactly that provision."

Reflecting on his year as prime minister, Kim said the experience felt like "working in an emergency room." "It was a year of running back and forth for the full recovery of the country," he said.