Kim Yong-beom: 'I'm proud of what we built together'

Kim Yong-beom, who stepped down Tuesday as Cheong Wa Dae policy chief after 15 months in the role, shared his farewell thoughts, saying, "I am proud of what we built. I am even more proud of all of you."

Kim posted the message on Facebook under the title "To my beloved colleagues at the Policy Office."

"In lieu of a formal farewell, I am sharing the goodbye I sent to the Policy Office colleagues who worked closest to me," he wrote. "Today, Tuesday, I have completed my duties as the first policy chief of the Lee Jae Myung administration. There is still much to be done, but I felt it was time for me to step aside and let the next person carry on."

Kim said writing the farewell message was the hardest thing he had to do, adding that he had started and deleted it several times. "We went through so much together over the past year and three months," he wrote. "There were many days when a morning meeting stretched on until late at night. I lost count of the days we wrestled together with problems that had no clear answer. And yet, strangely, what comes to mind first is not how hard it was — it's your faces, right there beside me."

"I always felt the responsibility I carried as policy chief far exceeded my own abilities," Kim wrote. "You filled that gap. You caught what I missed, looked further ahead when my thinking fell short, and whenever something came up, everyone jumped in as if it were their own problem — without anyone having to ask. I made many demands and pushed hard. I must have made things difficult more than a few times. And yet you ran alongside me to the very end. I am grateful, and I am sorry."

Kim recalled that people would often ask him in amazement how his team managed to handle such a relentless workload while serving a president who was so hands-on with policy. "I always gave the same answer," he wrote. "The Policy Office has the best people in the country." He added: "I watched up close, right beside you, just how much deliberation, persuasion and coordination goes into bringing a single policy into the world. What the Policy Office accomplished is what you accomplished. I am proud of what we built. I am even more proud of all of you."

"I am the one leaving first," Kim wrote, "and I feel sorry for adding to your burden by doing so. Still, I am not too worried. You will do well without me. In fact, you might even do better without me. Ha."

"As you know, I left government once, came back after a long time away, and got to work alongside you," he wrote. "You are the greatest asset I gained in these 15 months. It was truly a privilege."

Kim submitted his resignation to President Lee on Monday, and Lee accepted it Tuesday, Cheong Wa Dae Chief Spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said.