Kang Hoon-sik says making president apologize felt 'like a dagger to the heart'

Kang Hoon-sik, the outgoing presidential chief of staff, took to social media Thursday — moments after his resignation was formally accepted — to reflect on his 499 days in office. He said he felt as though "a dagger was flying at him" when President Lee Jae Myung was compelled to issue a public apology, and acknowledged full responsibility for the circumstances that led to his departure.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Kang said it felt "quite a long time" since his name had not been preceded by a title. "I had been wrestling with this for a while," he wrote. "There were many sleepless nights when it seemed as though nothing was not my fault. That is probably mostly true."

Kang identified the president's press conference as the moment that made his resignation inevitable. "The hardest day was the day of the president's press conference," he wrote. "Every time the words 'I fell short' or 'I am sorry' came from his mouth, it felt like a dagger flying at me. As head of the presidential secretariat, I allowed things to reach a point where the president had to apologize. That is entirely my fault. After a sleepless weekend, I had no choice but to tell the president I wished to resign."

He said he had followed all the public reaction that followed. "There will be an opportunity to clarify parts that differ from the facts, and I could accept most of the criticism," he wrote. "But the words asking why I was leaving at the very moment the president needed to be protected most — those hurt deeply. I am sorry. Even so, my conviction that taking responsibility is the right thing to do has not changed."

Kang said that as he processed the formal acceptance of his resignation, he found himself thinking not of a flood of memories but merely of how fortunate he had been. "There were the residents of Asan in South Chungcheong Province who nurtured an unknown Kang Hoon-sik," he wrote. "There was the candidate at the time who trusted a lawmaker who had kept his distance and entrusted me with this role. And after I entered Cheong Wa Dae, there were countless staff members who believed in a young chief of staff and ran alongside me." He expressed gratitude to all of them.

Kang offered warm words for the president himself. "The president is a good person — an outstanding administrator, a politician who never forgets he serves as a representative of the people, but above all, a good person," he wrote. "There were many moments of admiration throughout my time serving him. The desire to keep pace and do better was the greatest force that drove me through all 499 days. The world I got to learn from, watching over his shoulder, was boundless. I am grateful."

Kang also offered words of encouragement for the second-phase Cheong Wa Dae team under his successor, newly appointed Chief of Staff Lim Gwang-hyeon. "Cheong Wa Dae will always maintain its composure, regardless of my personal comings and goings," he wrote. "The new chief of staff and the most capable aides I have ever met will hold the line steadily — there is no need for concern."

He closed with thanks to everyone who had supported or criticized him since his first day as chief of staff. "I look back on the days when I was impatient, wanting to repay that trust," he wrote. "I will long remember the moments when I could have done better, the matters I should have examined more deeply. I am wholly and completely grateful."