Moon replaces seven secretaries at the Blue House

President Moon Jae-in replaced seven presidential secretaries on Sunday and named a former Blue House staffer known as one of his closest aides as his new protocol secretary.

Park Kyung-mee, a former ruling party lawmaker, has been named secretary for education, with Tak Hyun-min, a former Blue House staffer, appointed new protocol secretary, according to the Blue House.

Park was a professor of mathematics education at Hongik University and was lawmaker for the Democratic Party. She was defeated in the April 15 parliamentary elections.

Tak is known for his experience and expertise in organizing events. He led the government's preparations for the Panmunjom ceremony on April 27 last year to commemorate the first anniversary of the historic summit between Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the truce village.

Moon also replaced some key players in the public communication team. He tapped Han Jung-woo, director of the Chunchugwan presidential press center, as secretary for public information and Lee Ji-soo, executive at the Korean Standards Association, as secretary for foreign press.

The president promoted Kim Jae-joon, who is working at the Personal Secretary Office of the Blue House, to succeed Han.

The other Blue House officials — Lee Ki-heon and Jo Kyung-ho — have been promoted to serve as secretary for civil participation and secretary for social unity, respectively.

The new lineup of secretaries comes as Moon's administration fights Covid-19 and gears up for the post-coronavirus era.

Yonhap