Korea's presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik offers to resign

Presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik has offered to resign, the Blue House said on Monday.

Seong Ghi-hong, the presidential office's senior secretary for public relations and communication, said at a briefing at the Blue House press center in Jongno District, central Seoul, at 1 p.m. that Kang had tendered his resignation to President Lee Jae Myung that morning.

A separate Blue House official said, "At last week's press conference, President Lee said several times that the public's view of state affairs was due to his own shortcomings, and in that situation, he expressed his intention to resign to take overall responsibility as the chief of staff who assists the president."

Lee, speaking at a roughly 100-minute standing news conference last Friday, apologized to the public for the disappointment they have felt in his government, amid falling poll numbers.

Kang was appointed the first presidential chief of staff when the Lee administration launched in June 2025, and has assisted the president since. He kept the post during the presidential staff reshuffle in June.

BY HYEON YE-SEUL [[email protected]]