New Presidential Assistants

New Presidential Chief of Staff Chung Chung-kil prefers persuasion to pressure


Chancellor Chung Chung-kil has been known for his friendliness toward just about anyone he meets and expectations around Cheong Wa Dae, the presidential office, the government and the country is high as he began his new job as chief secretary to President Lee Myung-bak, a powerful position that can either make or break a presidency. The former university chancellor was named to the post at a very critical time for the government and the country.
President Lee decided to replace all of the members of his secretariat after just over 100 days in the nation's most powerful office and called on the Ulsan University chancellor to take over as the second Presidential chief secretary to take control of the Presidential Secretariat. President Lee and Chung are friends from their university days. They both served jail terms for leading college student demonstrations against the Korea-Japan diplomatic resumption treaty in 1964.
President Lee had decided to make the move in the wake of the mass protests against the import of U.S. beef. The government agreed to the resumption of beef imports during talks with the U.S. delegation that visited Seoul in May, just before Lee's state-visit to Washington to meet with U.S. President George W. Bush. The president put the summit meeting with the U.S. president at the top of his diplomatic agenda to mend ties between the two countries, which had somewhat cooled during the previous administration of President Roh Moo-hyun. Some opposition party legislators began to protest against the agreement, saying that it allowed for the import of U.S. beef more than 30 months old, which might contain meat of cows with bovine spongiform encephalopathy or mad cow disease.
Protests grew in scale with more people joining the candlelight vigils nightly on the streets of downtown Seoul for more than a month. Prime Minister Han Seung-soo announced that all of the members of the cabinet decided to resign en masse to take responsibility. The members of the Presidential secretariat did the same soon after.
Former Presidential chief of staff, Ryu Woo-ik, recommended Chung to be his successor, knowing Chung's ability to do an admirable job in assisting the chief executive in a wide range of issues, many of them crucial for the country, during the next five years.
In fact, Lee and Chung knew each other well during their college days. Both as presidents of student bodies, Lee at Korea University and Chung at Seoul National University, spent 100 days in jail for leading demonstrations against the Korea-Japan diplomatic normalization treaty in 1964. Their friendship continued after they their release from jail through their membership in the June 3 Compatriot Society.
The President joined Hyundai Construction, while Chung decided to become a professor at Seoul National University where he worked for over 20 years at the university's Graduate School of Administration. Chung's last job at SNU was dean of the graduate school.
The new Presidential chief of staff said during another interview held in 2006, while President Roh was still in office, that the next government should put stability first with a "soft outside"and "tough inside"attitude and a firm direction for major policies and a political base winning the people over to the president's side to unite forces. nw

Cheong Wa Dae Chief of Staff Chung Chung-kil.