Second-term Cabinet must speak truth to a micromanaging president

President Lee Jae Myung has replaced the ministers of six government agencies — so suddenly that Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Koo Yun-cheol canceled an overseas trip, then reversed course. The reshuffle reflects urgency to reverse the president’s sharp decline in recent polls.

Presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik said that the nominees would produce tangible results through “dynamism and expertise.” The scale of the changes suggests an attempt to reset the administration with what amounts to a second-term Cabinet.

But replacing ministers is unlikely to restore public confidence, with Lee personally setting policy directions and managing details. As a result, if the nominees are confirmed, they must diagnose the causes of falling support and be willing to tell the president uncomfortable truths.

Public dissatisfaction clearly influenced the reshuffle. In a Gallup Korea poll released on Thursday, Lee’s negative job rating reached 50 percent for the first time. Respondents’ most cited reason was real estate policy, followed by reduced prosecutorial powers, the economy and livelihoods, ethical concerns around Lee’s trials and defense and security.

Recent controversies under the affected ministries include heavier proposed taxes on owners of homes that they do not occupy, confusion over housing development on Yongsan Park, the abolition of prosecutors’ supplementary investigative authority, police mishandling of missing persons cases, conflict between Lee and the chief justice, calls to drop prosecutions, extreme stock market volatility, plans to merge the three military academies and disputes over wartime operational control (Opcon).

Replacing the finance, land, justice and defense ministers is, therefore, timely. But that alone cannot reverse declining support because the president bears the ultimate responsibility. Lee reversed his pledge not to use taxes to curb housing prices, stood by as his allies pushed to abolish supplementary investigations and cancel prosecutions and rejected a recommendation for a Supreme Court justice — an extraordinary move.

The new Cabinet must speak candidly about such decisions.

Some nominees, however, could deepen public concern. Justice minister nominee Kim Seung-won, a Democratic Party lawmaker, co-led a group advocating for the cancellation of prosecutions in Lee’s trials and has supported abolishing prosecutors’ supplementary investigative authority. If he continues those efforts while neglecting safeguards, the reshuffle’s intended purpose could backfire.

Defense minister nominee Kang Shin-chul, a former deputy commander of the Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command, must put the national interest first on contentious issues, including Opcon and the proposed merger of the three military academies.

The appointments of Basic Income Party lawmaker Yong Hye-in as gender equality minister and Rebuilding Korea Party lawmaker Lee Hai-min as senior presidential secretary for AI future planning have prompted criticism that “bipartisan” appointments merely consolidate the broader ruling bloc.

The nomination of Ha Jung-woo, the former senior presidential secretary for AI future planning who lost a National Assembly by-election, as vice chair of the National AI Strategy Committee also looks like a revolving-door appointment.

Ultimately, only President Lee himself can dispel these concerns. If the reshuffle is to mean anything, he must demonstrate changes that people can actually feel. Otherwise, new faces will do little to change public perceptions of an administration losing direction.