President Lee Jae-myung picks National Tax Service chief Lim Kwang-hyun as his chief secretary

Factional conflict within and around the ruling party has flared up again, just two months after the party convention.

Two months after the Democratic Party of Korea wrapped up its presidential primary and entered a period of consolidation, signs of factional strife have re-emerged over issues linked to Shincheonji. Meanwhile, President Lee Jae-myung launched a reshuffle of the presidential office by abruptly appointing National Tax Service Commissioner Lim Kwang-hyun as successor to Chief Secretary Kang Hoon-sik, who stepped down 499 days into the job.

The calculation behind tapping an 'economy-oriented' chief secretary

The recruitment of Commissioner Lim is seen as a personnel move that places a tax administration expert, rather than a political insider, in the chief secretary's seat. The presidential office said it expects Lim to deliver "change that touches people's lives" and "livelihood recovery and social reform." Media assessments have likewise characterized the move as the surprise selection of an "economy-oriented" chief secretary. Choosing a pragmatic technocrat over a politically loyal figure is read as a message that the president intends to drive his second year in office through livelihood and economic results, not political issues.

The timing is significant. Within the ruling camp, tensions between the party and the government had already come to the surface, with President Lee issuing public warnings to his own side over prosecutorial reform and the nomination of Kim Ji-yong as the first chief of the Major Crimes Investigation Office. Supreme Council member Choi Min-hee acknowledged that disillusionment with the Lee government was a factor driving supporters away from the Democratic Party — effectively the ruling party admitting cracks in its own base. Conflict within the party has continued, with former lawmaker Park Jie-won criticizing "what has Gyeonggi Governor Choo Mi-ae done so well," President Lee taking aim by saying she "spent her entire career in high office, indulging in luxuries on taxpayers' money," and party leader Kim Min-seok hinting at possible disciplinary action.

The Shincheonji issue and the revival of factional alignments

On top of this, the controversy surrounding Shincheonji has revived factional conflict that had been papered over at the party convention. The convention was, for the party's image, an occasion to display unity, but barely two months later, horse-trading is repeating itself over every issue — personnel, discipline, prosecutorial reform. President Lee's recent post on X rebuking hard-liners within the party for "demanding big posts without the ability" should be read in the same context. The leadership openly warning its own lawmakers and supporters is interpreted as a signal that the conflict has exceeded manageable levels.

The opposition's attacks are also unrelenting: criticism from the People Power Party and Reform Party over the president playing golf on the day a shopping mall ceiling collapse killed people in Daegu, and a dispute over whether Rep. Lee Jin-sook was even qualified to take part in a parliamentary audit, centered on her visit to the graves of Lee Jae-myung's parents. The more issues pile up on the political calendar, the more the ruling party's cohesion is put to the test.

Will the livelihood pivot deliver?

The success or failure of the Lim Kwang-hyun era will ultimately be proven by the numbers. Assessments of the Lee government's first year already point to the opening of a KOSPI 8,000 era as an achievement, while real estate and the exchange rate remain unresolved tasks. The first job of a chief secretary who came from the National Tax Service is to tackle those outstanding challenges and prove that he can deliver "change that touches people's lives."

That said, a change of chief secretary alone is unlikely to calm factional conflict. Disputes within the party over the Shincheonji issue and Governor Choo Mi-ae are rooted in questions of accountability and clashes over direction, rather than in the personnel structure. Whether Lim's tenure lasts beyond former chief secretary Kang Hoon-sik's 499 days and proceeds stably — or instead triggers yet another reshuffle — will be the first gateway for the government's second year.