Cheong Wa Dae defends Im Gwang-hyeon's appointment as chief of staff

Cheong Wa Dae said Thursday that the appointment of Im Gwang-hyeon as the new presidential chief of staff reflects President Lee Jae Myung's determination to build a results-driven second-term administration. It directly rebuffed opposition allegations that the appointment was a reward for Im's brother-in-law, a lawyer who represented Lee, and pushed back against criticism over the naming of Im's wife, Lee Gyeong-eun, as consul general in Houston.

Presidential Communications Secretary Seong Gi-hong, speaking on CBS Radio's "Park Seong-tae's News Show" on Thursday, said Im's selection was rooted in the president's governing philosophy. "I believe the appointment of Chief of Staff Im to lead the second-term presidential secretariat reflects the president's determination to build a working secretariat and a working administration," Seong said.

Seong drew a clear distinction between Im and his predecessor, Kang Hoon-sik. "Former Chief of Staff Kang was a senior politician who had spent his career in Yeouido," Seong said. "At that time, the most important task for the first chief of staff was to chart and design a new governing roadmap for the Lee Jae Myung administration, which had launched without a transition committee after overcoming the insurrection." He added that the president's focus in the second term had shifted to delivering tangible results — translating the roadmap drawn up early on into real improvements in people's lives.

Seong described Im as a bureaucrat who had demonstrated that ability through concrete achievements as National Tax Service commissioner. "He proved his competence through results — collecting delinquent taxes from high-income earners and recovering taxes that had moved offshore, which are enormously difficult tasks he handled smoothly," Seong said. "That process itself reflects not just policy capability but also political judgment. And he has served as a lawmaker, as a proportional representative." Seong added that Im's legislative experience addressed concerns that a career bureaucrat might lack political instincts.

Seong drew a firm line against reports of internal friction within the presidential secretariat. Asked about alleged tensions between Kang and presidential aide Kim Hyun-ji, Seong shrugged off the claims. "There are many rumors circulating in our society — informal, fact-free stories formed online that end up shaking mainstream discourse — and this is one of them," he said. "In practice, the entire secretariat system has been operating with former Chief of Staff Kang at the center throughout."

Seong also pushed back point by point against the opposition's "reward appointment" attacks. On the allegation that Im was chosen because his brother-in-law, attorney Lee Seung-yeop, had defended President Lee in legal proceedings, Seong said both Im and Consul General Lee Gyeong-eun "are individuals whose personal professional capabilities and careers are each exceptionally distinguished in their own right." "Linking the brother-in-law's career to the chief of staff appointment — the family connection is a fact, but there is no basis for any causal relationship," he said.

On criticism of Lee Gyeong-eun's qualifications for the Houston post, Seong said her roughly 10 years at the Ministry of Health and Welfare represented only one part of a broader career. She began at the Ministry of Public Information, handled overseas public affairs at the presidential foreign press secretariat during the Roh Moo-hyun administration, and holds a degree in international relations from the Fletcher School at Tufts University, a leading American graduate school for diplomacy and international affairs. She also served as Korea director of Amnesty International. "Asking why a Health and Welfare civil servant is serving as consul general in Houston is simply highlighting that one part of her past while ignoring the rest of her career," Seong said.