Journalist-turned-lawmaker appointed PM chief secretary

Kim Sung-soo

By Kang Seung-woo

Rep. Kim Sung-soo of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) has been named the chief of staff of the Prime Minister's Secretariat.

Given that he cannot hold two positions simultaneously, the 63-year-old resigned his seat at the National Assembly, Wednesday. The first-term lawmaker, who won the seat as a proportional representative for the party four years ago, had already announced he would not seek a second term in the upcoming general election slated for April 15.

According to the DPK, new Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun offered the position to Kim, hoping he could play a bridging role between the party and opposition parties, helping the government include opposition figures in the Cabinet, and Kim willingly accepted.

“The prime minister appointed Kim as his chief of staff because Kim is a man with outstanding sense of balance and a reasonable personality,” an official of the Prime Minister's Secretariat said.

“Due to the confirmation process, it is expected to take a month-and-a-half before Kim takes office.”

A former reporter, Kim began his journalism career at local broadcaster MBC in 1984, where he ultimately led the political desk and the newsroom, before joining the political circle in 2014 with the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, a predecessor of the DPK.

Despite being a first-term lawmaker, Kim held a variety of positions, including head of the National Assembly Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee.

He was once regarded as a replacement for Yoon Young-chan, former senior presidential secretary for public affairs, in January last year after Yoon left Cheong Wa Dae.

Meanwhile, Kim's vacancy of the proportional representative seat will be filled by Huh Yoon-jeong, a member of the health and welfare division of the party's policy planning committee. According to the National Assembly Law, a proportional representative vacancy is filled by the next candidate on the party's list.