NTS chief makes surprise move to chief of staff... Lee: “I believe he’ll do as well as Hoon-sik hyung, if not better”

[Financial News] President Lee Jae-myung’s surprise appointment of NTS Commissioner Lim Gwang-hyun as the new presidential chief of staff on the 14th is expected to bring changes to the Blue House’s governance in its second phase. While Kang Hoon-sik, the chief of staff in the early days of the administration, focused on organizing and stabilizing the government’s operating system, Lim is expected to be tasked with delivering policy results that people can feel in their daily lives. Attention is particularly focused on whether he can draw together the government and National Assembly on key livelihood issues, including real estate taxes, and strengthen policy implementation, drawing on his administrative experience and political acumen gained as a lawmaker and NTS commissioner.
The Blue House described Lim as a politician from an economic bureaucratic background with both administrative expertise and political acumen. He built up expertise in tax administration during his long career at the NTS, then gained experience with legislation and party decision-making as a lawmaker. He was later credited with demonstrating policy implementation and organizational management skills as the first NTS commissioner of the Lee Jae-myung government. With the government’s approval rating recently falling into the 30 percent range and finding a way to break through in governance emerging as a challenge, the appointment puts a proven practitioner at the forefront.
His predecessor, Kang, personally announced Lim’s appointment that day, saying, “As the first NTS commissioner of the Lee Jae-myung government, he has contributed to establishing tax justice and faithfully put the president’s governing philosophy into practice on the ground through policies—the philosophy of lowering the barriers of inequality so that everyone can enjoy a better life.” He emphasized, “In particular, having experience in both the National Assembly and the government makes him the right person to give the people’s voices greater weight in governance and accelerate government achievements through cooperation among the ruling party, the government and the presidential office.” He added, “As the highest-ranking aide supporting the president on the front lines, I expect him to carry out the president’s directives on restoring livelihoods and reforming society, and help build a Korea where everyone can prosper together.”
After attending the Government of the People’s population strategy vision declaration ceremony that day, President Lee wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “Chief Kang, thank you for all your hard work. You played a major role in stabilizing the Government of the People early on, after it began on barren ground, and normalizing the country’s governance.” He continued, “Welcome, Chief Lim. I believe and expect you’ll do as well as Hoon-sik hyung—or even better. Let’s show boundless respect for the will of the Korean people and cross this great watershed in our modern history together.”
Lim, who was born in Hongseong, South Chungcheong Province, in 1969, graduated from Gangseo High School and Yonsei University’s economics department. He entered public service in 1995 after passing the 38th Higher Civil Service Examination and completed an international taxation program at Harvard Law School in the United States in 2001. During the Participatory Government, he also worked as an administrative officer in the Blue House’s Office of the Economic Policy Secretary. At the NTS, he is known as a tax-audit veteran who held a range of key investigative posts. He served as director of Investigation Bureaus 1 and 4 at the Central Regional Tax Office; director of Investigation Bureaus 2, 4 and 1 at the Seoul Regional Tax Office; and head of the NTS Investigation Bureau, among other positions. He also gained organizational management experience, becoming chief of the Seoul Regional Tax Office in 2020 and NTS deputy commissioner in 2021. During his tenure as NTS commissioner, he focused investigative resources on antisocial real estate tax evasion and irregular tax evasion that undermined order in the capital market. Lim’s wife is Lee Gyeong-eun, a fellow civil service exam graduate and South Korea’s consul general in Houston; lawyer Lee Seung-yeop, an attorney for President Lee in the Daejang-dong case, is his brother-in-law.
Lim entered politics in 2024 as a recruit of the Democratic Party of Korea and was elected to the 22nd National Assembly as a proportional representative for the Democratic Alliance of Korea. He served as a deputy floor leader of the Democratic Party and standing vice chair of its Policy Committee. He resigned his seat in July last year when he took office as the first NTS commissioner of the Lee Jae-myung government. About a year and three months later, he is moving to the post of presidential chief of staff. It is an unusual appointment for someone to move from the NTS commissioner position, which is at vice-ministerial level, to presidential chief of staff; this is the first time a former NTS commissioner has been appointed to the post.
As the first chief of staff, Kang played a key role in organizing the Blue House and the government’s operating system in an administration that began without a presidential transition committee, following the state of emergency martial law and the impeachment crisis. He was credited with serving as an all-around chief of staff, overseeing personnel, political affairs and policy, on the strength of the political trust he had built through years of working closely with President Lee.
By contrast, Lim is expected to focus on turning major policies into tangible results on the foundation for governance laid by Kang. Rather than setting a new direction for governance, he is expected to prioritize stronger implementation by reviewing the progress of existing policies and fostering cooperation among relevant ministries.
Lim also spoke at the appointment briefing that day, saying, “Over the past year, the Government of the People has worked tirelessly alongside the people to normalize the country. We have achieved meaningful results together with the people and are walking together on the path of a great transformation.” He added, “I believe it may be my mission to continue the achievements of the Lee Jae-myung government and make sure to bring about changes in people’s lives that they can feel firsthand.”
One of the major challenges facing Lim is real estate. As housing prices and instability in jeonse and monthly rents in the Capital Metropolitan Area weigh on public sentiment, interests surrounding housing supply, lending restrictions and tax policies such as the comprehensive real estate holding tax and capital gains tax—are also complexly intertwined. Attention is focused on how far Lim, with expertise in tax administration and experience in both the National Assembly and the Blue House, can narrow differences over real estate policy and develop practical solutions.
Reactions in political circles were divided. The Democratic Party of Korea welcomed the appointment, praising Lim as the right person to accelerate government achievements. Park Seong-jun, the party’s chief spokesperson, said, “As the first NTS commissioner of the Government of the People, Lim achieved unprecedented results in addressing the long-unresolved problem of high-value tax arrears and restored tax justice.” He added, “Having served in the 22nd National Assembly and gained extensive experience in both the legislature and government, he is the right person to accelerate government achievements through cooperation among the ruling party, the government and the presidential office.”
By contrast, People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyuk criticized Lim in a Facebook post that day, saying, “He was more zealous than anyone in conducting tax audits ordered by the president. He also led the charge for real estate tax bombs, including abolishing the special deduction for long-term holdings. He has also pushed ahead with taxing virtual assets, which young people oppose.” He continued, “In the end, this means an even heavier tax bomb is going to fall. All that lies ahead is cries of anguish from the people.” He also pointed out that Lim’s brother-in-law is one of President Lee’s lawyers. Jang said, “The president takes such good care of his own lawyers that he even looks after their families,” and added, “I wish he would take care of the people that way.”
[email protected] Choi Jong-geun, Seong Seok-woo, Lee Hae-ram, Kim Hyeong-gu Reporter