On the 13th, the Presidential Commission on National Planning, which has been serving as the transition committee for President Lee Jae-myung’s administration, will conclude its two-month-long journey by holding a “National Public Report Meeting” to announce the Five-Year Plan for National Administration. Since its launch on June 14th, the commission has selected 123 key national tasks and 564 detailed action items. These tasks span across various areas such as politics (19), economy (29), balanced growth (23), society (37), and diplomacy and security (15).
The highly anticipated first national task is expected to be “constitutional amendment.” The specifics include proposals such as a four-year presidential term with the possibility of re-election, the recommendation of the Prime Minister by the National Assembly, and restrictions on the president’s veto power. President Lee proposed these changes as election promises during his presidential campaign, suggesting that a national referendum could coincide with next year’s local elections.
Another national task includes “defense reform,” which encompasses the abolition of the Military Counterintelligence Command involved in past illegal martial law and the transition of wartime operational control during President Lee’s term.
Despite high public interest, the final direction for restructuring government organizations like the prosecution and the Ministry of Strategy and Finance has not yet been determined. This announcement will exclude these aspects, with potential updates being possible by the end of the month, taking into account major government issues and the upcoming South Korea-U.S. summit on the 25th.
In political circles and government departments, there is a strong possibility that the restructuring plan will include separating the existing Ministry of Strategy and Finance into two entities: the Ministry of Planning and Budget and the Ministry of Finance and Economy. If implemented as expected, this would mark the first separation since the two ministries were merged in 2008. This plan would transfer policy functions to the Financial Services Commission, while supervisory functions would be jointly conducted by the Financial Supervisory Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service.
The possibility of establishing a “Ministry of Climate and Energy” is also anticipated to be part of the restructuring plans. The most likely scenario so far is to transfer energy policy functions from the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy to the Ministry of Environment, effectively absorbing energy-related duties. Another discussed option is to create a tentative “Ministry of Climate, Environment, and Energy” by separating the climate affairs of the Ministry of Environment and the energy affairs of the Ministry of Industry.
Additionally, there are calls to transfer the Marine Plant Division from the Ministry of Industry to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries due to the confirmed relocation of the latter to Busan. However, a government official dismissed such discussions regarding the transfer of shipbuilding and marine plant responsibilities.
After the commission’s activity period concludes, it will transition into the Presidential Commission on National Future Strategy to manage national tasks. Selected tasks will be supplemented, added to, or adjusted by this future strategy committee, while the presidential office will implement them, and the Office of Government Policy Coordination will oversee, manage, and evaluate them.