DP’s Lee taps top campaign aide Kim Min-seok as prime minister

Democratic Party (DP) presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung, poised for a smooth win, is expected to appoint his top campaign aide, Kim Min-seok, as his first prime minister, people with knowledge of the matter said Wednesday.

Kim, a senior member of the DP’s Supreme Council, is a former student activist turned four-term lawmaker, known for his strategic role in Lee’s presidential campaign. Kim has been serving as a co-chair of Lee’s election team.

Lee has also named Kang Hoon-sik, another DP lawmaker, as his chief of staff, according to party officials. The three-term lawmaker has worked closely with Lee since the 2022 presidential election, in which Lee lost narrowly to his then- conservative archrival Yoon Suk Yeol.

Lee’s selection of the two aides is seen as part of an effort to accelerate the formation of his new government, as he will not have the usual two-month transition period due to the leadership vacuum triggered by the impeachment and removal of former President Yoon over his brief martial law attempt.

For top posts in national security and foreign affairs, former Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok, former Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Hyun-chong, and diplomat-turned-politician Wi Sung-lac are reportedly among Lee’s potential picks.