In the Lee Jae-myung administration’s Blue House, fewer close aides and more bureaucrats

As a result of analyzing personnel appointments in the Presidential Secretariat of the Lee Jaemyung administration, it was found that the proportion of close aides who had been with him since before the presidential election has decreased compared to the early days of his term, while the share of officials from central government ministries has increased significantly. According to a survey by Kyunghyang Shinmun and Underscore of the careers of 206 people at the rank of administrator or higher as of the end of last month, the share of close aides fell from 42.5% in the first year to 25.6% in the second year. On the other hand, the proportion of former bureaucrats rose from 7.5% to 25.6%, and nonpartisan figures with no party experience also increased from 22.4% to 43.4%. In other words, while the share of people from the political sphere decreased, more handson, practical personnel were added. According to the article, the personnel makeup changed as departures due to election bids and backfilling of vacancies overlapped, and some key positions were also filled belatedly. The article interpreted these changes as being in line with the president’s pragmatic approach to personnel appointments. However, it said that since the share of close aides and Democratic Partyaffiliated figures has decreased, it will be necessary to keep watching what kind of balance will be shown in policy implementation and personnel management.