President Lee Names NTS Chief Lim Kwang-hyun as Presidential Chief of Staff

Veteran tax official and former lawmaker

"My mission is to deliver changes people can feel in their daily lives"

President Lee Jae-myung on Oct. 14 appointed National Tax Service Commissioner Lim Kwang-hyun as chief of staff at the presidential office. It marks the first time an incumbent head of the National Tax Service has been named to the post of presidential chief of staff.

Kang Hoon-sik, the outgoing chief of staff, announced the appointment at a briefing at Chunchugwan that day. Lim, born in 1969, graduated from Seoul Gangseo High School and Yonsei University with a degree in economics. He entered public service in 1995 after passing the 38th higher civil service examination and spent most of his career at the National Tax Service as a career tax official. He left the agency in 2022 after serving as deputy commissioner, its No. 2 post. Ahead of the 22nd general election, Lee, then leader of the Democratic Party, recruited him, and he entered the National Assembly as a proportional representation lawmaker. He resigned his parliamentary seat after being tapped to lead the National Tax Service with the launch of the Lee administration.

Kang said Lim was well placed to help accelerate policy results because he has experience in both the National Assembly and the government. He added that Lim would better reflect the public's voice in state affairs and help speed results through cooperation among the ruling party, the government and the presidential office. Kang said he expects Lim to carry out the president's call for restoring livelihoods and pursuing social reform while helping build a South Korea where people prosper together.

Lim said he sees it as his mission to carry forward the Lee administration's achievements and deliver tangible changes in people's lives. He added that, as the top official assisting the president, he would take responsibility for the overall work of the presidential office and devote his full efforts to producing results on livelihood issues.

Han Jae-young / Kim Hyung-kyu, Hankyung.com reporters jyhan@hankyung.com