Cheong Wa Dae on Friday named new senior presidential secretaries for civil affairs, job creation and civic society, with a wider Cabinet reshuffle expected next month. 

Kim Jo-won, head of Korea Aerospace Industries, was appointed senior secretary for civil affairs, replacing Cho Kuk.

Cho served his post for 26 months since taking office in May 2017 as one of President Moon Jae-in’s first senior presidential secretaries. He is expected to be appointed as the next justice minister. 



“Kim Jo-won is an administrative audit expert with outstanding capabilities, which he has shown in various fields as a private company CEO and a university president,” Noh Young-min, presidential chief of staff, told reporters.

Kim, who has long experience working at the Board of Audit and Inspection, served as secretary for civil service discipline between 2015 and 2016 during the Roh Moo-hyun administration.

Hwang Deok-soon, who serves as secretary to the president for job creation, was promoted to senior secretary for job creation, replacing Jung Tae-ho.

“Hwang is an expert who has been studying the labor market’s polarization and employment issues for a long time. He will be leading employment policies, including job creation and improvement of labor conditions,” Noh said.

Kim Geo-Sung was named new senior presidential secretary for civil society to replace Lee Yong-sun. Jung and Lee are expected to run in next year’s general elections.

Noh introduced Kim as a representative civic activist and expects that he will resolve pending social issues through communication with civic society based on his experience.

Moon reportedly plans to carry out a Cabinet shake-up before mid-August, which will likely affect several ministerial posts.

By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)