Yoon revives scrapped senior secretary for civil affairs position

President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, introduces former Vice Justice Kim Joo-hyun as his new senior secretary for civil affairs at the Yongsan presidential office in central Seoul on Tuesday. [NEWS1]

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday revived the position of senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, personally naming former Vice Justice Minister Kim Joo-hyun to the post he had previously scrapped.

Yoon introduced Kim in a live broadcast press briefing at the Yongsan presidential office, the third appointment he has announced in person in the past two weeks.

Kim is a graduate of Seoul National University's College of Law and a former prosecutor. He became a vice justice minister in 2015.

His appointment comes as Yoon has been criticized for often naming former prosecutors and Seoul National University graduates to administrative positions.

The senior secretary to the president for civil affairs is expected to manage personnel matters and oversee political trends and public sentiment.

Yoon, who advocated for a leaner presidential office during his campaign, had previously abolished the post when he took office two years ago, arguing that it had been used to control opposition political forces in the past and intervene in investigations into civilians.

He has raised concerns that previous administrations mobilized the secretary post to conduct surveillance against political dissidents.

Yoon took several questions from reporters and addressed his decision to revive the post.

"I received a lot of advice that our ability to listen to public sentiment was too weak," Yoon said, adding that this issue came up during his first meeting with Democratic Party (DP) Chairman Lee Jae-myung recently.

Addressing the rival DP's claims that reviving the post is an attempt to protect himself against legal threats, Yoon said that if anything was raised against him, "it is my job to explain and resolve it, and it is not the job of the senior secretary for civil affairs."

He argued that he revived the post to heed public opinion better, indicating that the secretary's role would be to reflect people's sentiment rather than spy on private individuals like it did in the past.

In his meeting with DP chief Lee last month, Yoon said the civil affairs post had previously been abolished and revived two years later during the Kim Dae-jung administration.

He noted that the civil affairs secretary post has traditionally been led by a lawyer "to ensure that it is carried out within the framework of the rule of law," adding, "I think that's why even in past administrations, former lawyers, most of them former prosecutors, have served as senior civil affairs secretaries."

This is the latest presidential appointment Yoon has announced in person following the crushing defeat of the People Power Party (PPP) in the April 10 general election.

On April 22, Yoon introduced Chung Jin-suk as his new chief of staff and Hong Chul-ho as his new senior secretary for political affairs in two separate impromptu press briefings on one day. He also took a few questions from reporters.

The DP, in turn, called the president's revival of the civil affairs secretary post a ploy to increase his control over investigative authorities," claiming that "listening to public opinion is just an excuse."

In a press briefing at the National Assembly in western Seoul Tuesday, Choi Min-seok, a DP spokesperson, said Yoon aimed to "increase his control over the judicial system, which has been weakened after his defeat in the general election."

This comes amid pending probes into allegations surrounding first lady Kim Keon Hee, including suspicions she received a luxury handbag in 2022, and key officials.

Choi said that the senior secretary for civil affairs had previously strengthened the authority of the presidential office by controlling investigative agencies, such as the prosecution and police, and could be used again for that purpose.

The presidential office's reshuffle comes as Yoon is scheduled to hold an official press conference to mark his second anniversary in office on Thursday to keep with his recent pledge to better communicate with the public. The last official presidential press conference was held on Aug. 17, 2022, marking Yoon's first 100 days in office.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]