Presidential office announces reshuffle of 6 ministerial posts

President Lee Jae Myung conducted a reshuffle that includes six key ministerial posts at the Cabinet, Sunday.

Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik said at a briefing at Cheong Wa Dae that the president nominated Lee Hyoung-il, first vice minister of economy and finance, to serve as deputy prime minister for economic affairs and minister of economy and finance.

Born in 1971, Lee is a veteran career bureaucrat who has held key economic posts at the finance ministry. Since joining the finance ministry in 1993, he has built extensive expertise in both domestic and international economics through his career as a senior economist at the World Bank and as Commissioner of Statistics Korea. Lee has served as Vice Minister since June 2025, after heading Statistics Korea from July 2023 to June 2025.

President Lee also tapped Kang Shin-chul, a former deputy commander of the Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command, as defense minister and Rep. Kim Seung-won of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) as justice minister.

Born in 1968, Kang graduated from the Korea Military Academy and built his career in the military, holding key posts including director of policy at the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command and director of operation planning at the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He later served as secretary for defense reform and security strategy at the Office of National Security, deputy commander of the Ground Operations Command and deputy commander of the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command, retiring as a four-star general last year. Since January, he has been serving as Korea’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Saudi Arabia.

Hong Jee-sun, second vice minister of land, infrastructure and transport, was nominated to lead that ministry, while Rep. Lee So-young of the DPK was named to head the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. Rep. Yong Hye-in, leader of the minor Basic Income Party, was nominated as minister of gender equality and family.

Meanwhile, Rep. Lee Hae-min of the minor Rebuilding Korea Party was named senior presidential secretary for AI future planning, while Lee Won-ju, director general for energy transition policy at the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment, was appointed presidential secretary for megaprojects. Kim Kyoung-soo, former chair of the Presidential Committee for Decentralization and Balanced Development, was named special adviser to the president for political affairs.

Ha Jung-woo, former senior presidential secretary for AI future planning, was named to vice chair of the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy Committee under the presidential office.

“This cabinet reshuffle brings dynamic, expert leadership to drive the comprehensive societal transformation Korea must pursue, delivering tangible changes that people can feel and leading the nation's leap forward toward its vision of an 'irreplaceable Korea,’” Kang said during a press briefing.