Lee to Name Senior Secretaries Feb. 10
By Kim Yon-se
Staff Reporter
President-elect Lee Myung-bak plans to announce the list of his senior secretaries around Feb. 10, Presidential Transition Committee official said Monday.
Lee's transition committee had planned to announce the lineup Monday, but decided to delay the announcement.
Sources said that Lee Jong-chan, a former head of the Seoul Supreme Prosecutors' Office, will likely be appointed as senior secretary for civil affairs.
Grand National Party (GNP) lawmaker Lee Joo-ho, in charge of education policy at the transition team, is one of the potential candidates for the post of senior secretary for human resources, science and culture.
Prof. Kim Byung-kook of Korea University is favored for senior secretary for foreign affairs and national security.
Candidates for senior secretaries for social policy include Ewha Womans University Prof. Kim Sung-yi, while several candidates are vying for the post of senior secretary for economic policy, according to transition team officials.
Transition committee spokesman Lee Dong-kwan is expected to become the presidential spokesman.
President-elect Lee has already appointed Yoo Woo-ik, a geography professor at Seoul National University, as his chief of staff and nominated Kim In-jong, a former commander of the country's 2nd Army Corps, as his chief of security.
Earlier, U.N. special envoy on climate change Han Seung-soo was nominated as prime minister.
Along with Lee's scheduled taking office as the 17th President of Korea, the presidential staff will be reduced by 20 percent to 46 ― one chief of staff, one security chief, one spokesperson, seven senior secretaries and 36 secretaries.
Currently, there is one chief of staff, three chief secretaries, 10 senior secretaries and 53 secretaries.
``The current organization of Cheong Wa Dae is bloated, far-flung and inefficient,'' a transition team official said.
The new government is determined to drastically streamline the presidential office's organization, though its power and functions will be further reinforced.
The President-elect will likely name Cabinet ministers and vice ministers in mid-February.
The ministerial appointees will undergo a parliamentary hearing before Lee's inauguration.