Chief of Staff to the President (South Korea)

The Chief of Staff to the President (Korean: 대통령비서실장; Hanja: 大統領秘書室長), or Chief Presidential Secretary, is the highest-ranking employee of the Blue House and serves as chief of staff to the President of South Korea.^[1][2] The chief presidential secretary is traditionally one of the first officials appointed by an incoming president.^[3] Former President Moon Jae-in was a former chief of staff.

Chief of Staff to the President of the Republic of Korea
대통령비서실장
Emblem of South Korea
Incumbent Chung Jin-suk since 22 April 2024
Office of the President
Appointer	President
Term length	At the President's pleasure
Inaugural holder	Lee Ki-poong
Formation	15 April 1948; 76 years ago (1948-04-15)

Chief of Staff to the President
Hangul	대통령비서실장
Hanja	大統領秘書室長
Revised Romanization	Daetongnyeong biseo siljang
McCune–Reischauer	Taet'ongnyŏng pisŏ shilchang

List of chiefs of staff

No.	Name	Term of office			President
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
1	Lee Ki-poong	15 April 1948	October 1948	Unknown	Syngman Rhee
2	Kim Yang-cheon	October 1948	1 June 1949	Unknown
3	Ko Jae-bong	1 June 1949	1953	Unknown
4	Yoo Chang-joon	1953	26 April 1960	Unknown
5	Chang Il-gang	26 April 1960	12 August 1960	108 days	Heo Jeong (acting)
6	Kim Joon-ha [ko]	18 August 1960	20 October 1960	63 days	Yun Bo-seon
7	Lee Jae-hang [ko]	21 October 1960	6 April 1962	1 year, 167 days
8	Lee Dong-won [ko]	6 April 1962	6 December 1963	1 year, 244 days	Park Chung Hee (acting)
9	Lee Hu-rak	10 December 1963	21 October 1969	5 years, 315 days	Park Chung Hee
10	Kim Chung-yum	21 October 1969	22 December 1978	9 years, 62 days
11	Kim Gye-won [ko]	22 December 1978	30 October 1979	312 days
12	Choi Kwang-soo [ko]	7 November 1979	27 August 1980	294 days	Choi Kyu-hah
13	Kim Kyung-won [ko]	27 August 1980	30 December 1981	1 year, 125 days	Chun Doo-hwan
14	Lee Beom-seok	3 January 1982	2 June 1982	150 days
15	Ham Byung-chun [ko]	6 June 1982	9 October 1983	1 year, 125 days
16	Kang Kyung-shik [ko]	15 October 1983	21 January 1985	1 year, 98 days
17	Lee Kyu-ho [ko]	21 January 1985	14 October 1985	266 days
18	Park Young-soo [ko]	15 October 1985	19 July 1987	1 year, 277 days
19	Kim Yun-hwan [ko]	20 July 1987	24 February 1988	219 days
20	Hong Sung-cheol [ko]	25 February 1988	17 March 1990	2 years, 20 days	Roh Tae-woo
21	Ro Jai-bong	17 March 1990	27 December 1990	285 days
22	Jeong Hae-chang [ko]	27 December 1990	24 February 1993	2 years, 59 days
23	Park Kwan-yong [ko]	25 February 1993	23 December 1994	1 year, 301 days	Kim Young-sam
24	Han Seung-soo	23 December 1994	21 December 1995	363 days
25	Kim Kwang-il [ko]	21 December 1995	28 February 1997	1 year, 69 days
26	Kim Yong-tae [ko]	28 February 1997	24 February 1998	361 days
27	Kim Joong-kwon [ko]	25 February 1998	23 November 1999	1 year, 271 days	Kim Dae-jung
28	Han Kwang-ok [ko][4]	23 November 1999	10 September 2001	1 year, 291 days
29	Lee Sang-joo [ko]	10 September 2001	29 January 2002	141 days
30	Jeon Yun-churl [ko]	29 January 2002	15 April 2002	76 days
31	Park Jie-won	15 April 2002	24 February 2003	315 days
32	Moon Hee-sang	25 February 2003	13 July 2004	1 year, 139 days	Roh Moo-hyun
33	Kim Woo-shik [ko]	13 July 2004	19 August 2005	1 year, 37 days
34	Lee Byung-wan [ko]	25 August 2005	9 March 2007	1 year, 196 days
35	Moon Jae-in	12 March 2007	24 February 2008	349 days
36	Yu Woo-ik [ko]	25 February 2008	10 June 2008	106 days	Lee Myung-bak
37	Jeong Jeong-gil [ko]	20 June 2008	3 June 2010	1 year, 348 days
38	Yim Tae-hee	16 July 2010	30 November 2011	1 year, 137 days
39	Ha Geum-yeol [ko]	12 December 2011	24 February 2013	1 year, 74 days
40	Heo Tae-yeol [ko]	25 February 2013	4 August 2013	160 days	Park Geun-hye
41	Kim Ki-chun [ko]	5 August 2013	22 February 2015	1 year, 201 days
42	Lee Byung-ki [ko]	1 March 2015	15 May 2016	1 year, 75 days
43	Lee Won-jong [ko]	16 May 2016	30 October 2016	167 days
(28)	Han Kwang-ok [ko]	3 November 2016	9 May 2017	187 days
44	Im Jong-seok	10 May 2017	8 January 2019	1 year, 243 days	Moon Jae-in
45	Noh Young-min	9 January 2019	31 December 2020	1 year, 357 days
46	You Young-min	1 January 2021	9 May 2022	1 year, 128 days
47	Kim Dae-ki [ko]	10 May 2022	31 December 2023	1 year, 235 days	Yoon Suk Yeol
48	Lee Kwan-sub	1 January 2024	22 April 2024	112 days
49	Chung Jin-suk	22 April 2024	incumbent	213 days

See also

• Chief Presidential Secretary for Policy
• Office of the President (South Korea)
• Senior Presidential Secretary
• President of South Korea
• Government of South Korea
• Politics of South Korea
• White House Chief of Staff
• Chief Cabinet Secretary
• State Council of South Korea

References

1. "Park likely to announce nominee for chief presidential secretary". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2017-07-15.
2. The Korea International Broadcasting Foundation. "News View | The World On Arirang". arirang.co.kr. Archived from the original on 2018-03-18. Retrieved 2017-07-15.
3. "Moon Jae-in starts new day as president". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 2017-07-15.
4. "Han Kwang-ok Appointed Chief Presidential Secretary - The Chosun Ilbo (English Edition): Daily News from Korea - national/politics". The Chosun Ilbo. Retrieved 2017-07-15.