"We need to revisit that after the Minister arrives."
Recently, it is said that such remarks are frequently heard in internal meetings of the economic ministries. Although existing Ministers have retained their positions since President Lee Jae-myung's inauguration, the situation has effectively entered a 'new government personnel waiting' phase, resulting in key policies remaining stagnant. Despite preparing reports, repeated instructions for review and revision have led front-line workers to lament, "We keep working, but nothing gets finalized."
This 'stagnant administration' is in line with the structure of the Lee Jae-myung government, which was hastily launched through an early presidential election. The early presidential election was held on June 3, and the new government was inaugurated the next day on June 4, but as of now, not a single Minister designate has been announced. Only some Vice Minister appointments have been made. The lack of a presidential transition committee and the priority on ‘verification first’ have overall delayed the appointment timeline. During this period, the State Council has met three times, but all meetings were attended by officials from the previous administration.
Acting Prime Minister Lee Ju-ho, who concurrently serves as the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, along with all cabinet members, has expressed their intention to resign collectively to the President. Currently, the President has accepted only a few resignation letters, intending to retain the existing Minister system until the formal appointments are completed; however, it has become difficult to escape the framework of policy vacuum.
The Ministry of Economy and Finance, which serves as the economic control tower, is feeling the burden of this vacuum the most. While internal work on the draft of the 'new government's economic policy direction' reflecting the President's pledges is ongoing, key decisions remain on hold as a new Vice Minister has yet to be appointed. A Ministry official noted, "While a Vice Minister is handling the work, it will be difficult to touch on tax and fiscal policies that require Vice Minister approval."
The situation is not much different in other ministries. A section chief in an economic ministry reported, "We prepare work reports late into the night, but there's an atmosphere internally that ‘there’s no guarantee this will be reflected as is.’" Among civil servants, phrases like 'dead labor' and 'unable to fire the cannon, just adjusting the angle' are circulating. Report writing and revisions are repeated, but it is common for cases to return to square one without final decisions.
The policy vacuum is also leading to a reduction in external activities of each ministry. Some ministries are minimizing press releases, saying, "If a message goes out incorrectly, it could cause problems when the new Minister is appointed."
This initial vacuum is not a problem unique to this government. The Moon Jae-in government also experienced a significant weakening of policy momentum, taking over six months for the first cabinet appointments. Despite the collective resignation of Ministers and Vice Ministers, the appointments were delayed, and evaluations suggest that the atmosphere was more about 'waiting for vacancies' than actual policies. There are concerns that this government is also following a similar path.
The 'national recommendation system' for Minister and Vice Minister candidates proposed by President Lee Jae-myung is also cited as a variable delaying appointments. The presidential office has received over 74,000 recommendations since the 10th. Working departments worry that "the verification and hearing process will take at least 1 to 2 months after the recommendations are made," making it realistically inevitable that Minister appointments will be delayed. An official from an economic ministry stated, "I agree with the intention, but if appointments continue to be delayed, it will inevitably affect the operational momentum of the department."
The National Planning Commission is also expressing dissatisfaction with this policy vacuum. The National Planning Commission, which serves as the presidential transition committee, has recently announced that it will completely review ministry work reports.
In particular, Chairperson Lee Han-joo specifically expressed dissatisfaction with the Ministry of Economy and Finance. They pointed out that "the understanding and fidelity to pledges has decreased compared to the 2017 work report," and added, "I cannot shake the feeling that the report content related to the pledges is less thorough." Chairperson Lee served as the head of the Economic Division in the National Planning Advisory Committee at the start of the Moon Jae-in government, overseeing the work of the Ministry.
While the criticism from the National Planning Commission is valid, it is also a reality that ministries find it difficult to produce reports containing clear judgments in a situation where both personnel appointments and policy directions are uncertain. A government official commented, "In the early days of the Moon Jae-in government, specific policy directions like income-led growth or the phase-out of nuclear power were clear, and reports from ministries had distinct directions, but this time, apart from the general message of ‘growth,’ there seems to be a lack of clarity regarding key national tasks or policy directions. As a result, the content of the reports seems to be drifting towards survival for each ministry, which may not meet the expectations of the National Planning Commission."
While there are inevitable aspects to the stagnant dynamic during a power transition, the swiftly changing economic circumstances do not wait for the government. With observations that "the policy clock will only start ticking in August," the 'golden time' of the early government is slipping away impotently in all areas of politics, economy, and society. The new government must act swiftly to resume appointments and regain executive power.