Kang Hoon-sik resignation offer exposes deepening Blue House power struggle

Presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik has offered to step down. A string of personnel failures set the stage for the tendered resignation, but the move may have only opened a deeper political fault line among rival power centers inside the Blue House.

“Chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik tendered his resignation to President Lee Jae Myung this morning,” Seong Ghi-hong, presidential secretary for public relations and communication, said at a Blue House briefing in central Seoul on Monday.

“Kang offered to resign to take overall responsibility as chief of staff after the president repeatedly blamed his own shortcomings for the public’s view of his administration at last week’s presser,” a Blue House official said.

Lee may still reject Kang's resignation, but a well-placed ruling bloc official saw the announcement as a sign that Kang’s resignation was “effectively being accepted.”

Taking the fall for the president?

Kang’s resignation offer came amid mounting calls from both the ruling and opposition parties for a shake-up of presidential aides, including Kang and officials overseeing personnel affairs — especially after Friday’s press conference.

Kang, who has served in that position since Lee took office in June 2025, was effectively taking the fall for the administration’s personnel troubles after two of the six picks in Lee’s Cabinet reshuffle in August bowed out due to allegations of misconduct. Basic Income Party Rep. Yong Hye-in and ruling Democratic Party (DP) Rep. Kim Seung-won withdrew as nominees for gender equality and family minister and justice minister, respectively.

Lee said he had “yet to decide” whether to accept Kang’s resignation during a meeting of senior secretaries before leaving later Monday for the UN General Assembly and a state visit to Mexico.

The question of who was to blame for the string of botched appointments had divided the ruling camp.

Lawmakers close to the DP’s so-called “Gyeonggi-Seongnam” faction — figures with ties to Lee from his years as Seongnam mayor and Gyeonggi governor — argued that Kang should take responsibility.

“Ultimately, the chief of staff is the one who makes the final decisions and gets things under control, isn’t he?” a two-term DP lawmaker said. “A lot of people blame Kang.”

On the other hand, pro-Lee lawmakers outside the Gyeonggi-Seongnam faction argue that Kang’s departure could make matters worse, especially amid rumors that Jeong Jin-sang, a senior policy secretary to Lee during his time as Seongnam mayor, is wielding influence from outside the presidential office.

“Things could get even worse if Kang leaves,” a DP heavyweight said.

The administration's never-ending personnel issue

In the end, Kang was left to take the fall alone, while other Lee confidants from the Gyeonggi-Seongnam circle kept their jobs, at least for now. Among them are Kim Hyun-ji, personal secretary to the president; Kim Yong-chae, secretary to the president for personal affairs; and Jeon Chi-young, secretary to the president for civil affairs.

“The president himself called for a review of the personnel system,” a DP lawmaker said. “Kang may be in charge of that system, but I’m not sure this is something he should be held solely responsible for. If Kang leaves but the current personnel team remains intact, it will be difficult to fix the problem.”

The main opposition People Power Party (PPP) also accused the administration of trying to contain the fallout by making Kang the sole casualty.

“Is this really something that can end with the chief of staff alone taking responsibility?” PPP chief Jang Dong-hyeok wrote on Facebook. “Shouldn’t responsibility instead lie with the ‘Gyeonggi-Seongnam’ faction that is said to hold sway over the Blue House?”

Finding replacements poses another challenge. No successor has emerged for former presidential chief of staff for policy Kim Yong-beom even 20 days after his resignation was accepted. If Kang’s resignation is accepted, the Blue House would be left with vacancies in two of its three top chief positions.

Big shoes might be difficult to fill

President Lee is reportedly aware of the political currents and rivalries at play behind the scenes. Some wager that Lee could also use his weeklong trip to the United States and Mexico to weigh Kang’s fate — and ultimately decide to keep him in the job, because filling Kang’s big shoes just won't be easy.

Kang has carved out an unusual role for a chief of staff, cultivating close relationships with power brokers in key countries and stepping in to untangle difficult issues when talks hit a snag.

During tariff negotiations with the United States last year, Kang established a direct line with White House chief of staff Susie Wiles. Then in March, as the Iran war threatened oil supplies, Kang secured a pledge that Korea would get priority access to 24 million barrels of crude through his ties with Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, chairman of Abu Dhabi's Executive Affairs Authority.

Kang’s remit has gone well beyond managing the Blue House. He traveled to the United Arab Emirates, Canada, Poland and Romania as a presidential special envoy to promote Korean defense exports, while also taking a hands-on role in the Lee administration’s startup and youth agenda.

Speculation over Kang’s successor is already swirling in the ruling camp, with two-term DP lawmakers Cheon Jun-ho and Han Jun-ho among the names in the mix. But not everyone in the ruling camp is sold on pulling another sitting lawmaker into the Blue House.

“The administration started without a transition committee, so there was a rationale for turning to an experienced lawmaker for stability,” a DP heavyweight said. “As we head toward the middle of the term, there’s much less reason to risk a by-election for that.”

That calculation has widened the field beyond sitting lawmakers. Among the names being floated are Rhee Cheol-hee, a former lawmaker and political affairs chief under former President Moon Jae-in, and Kim Min-ki, a former secretary general of the National Assembly.

A broader Blue House shake-up could also reach the senior secretary ranks. Former lawmakers Park Kwang-on, who served as DP floor leader under then-party chief Lee, and Choi Jae-sung, a former political affairs chief under Moon, are being discussed as potential picks for political affairs chief among political circles.

“Lee knows the subtle tension between Kang and the Gyeonggi-Seongnam circle,” a key pro-Lee figure said. “Kang had originally planned to stay on as chief of staff through the end of the year, so finding a replacement won’t be easy.”

BY HA JUN-HO [[email protected]]