President Lee Jae-myung issued a strong warning to cabinet members on Wednesday against being swept up in bureaucratic logic, repeatedly emphasizing that reform momentum at the start of an administration can be eroded by bureaucracy, blurring policy clarity and drive. Lee also called for a firm emergency response system across government affairs amid growing external uncertainties from Middle East conflicts.
"If the commander is red and the bureaucratic organization is gray, you must work to make everything from head to toe red," Lee said at a State Council meeting and emergency economic review session held at Cheongwadae. "In reality, the gray pushes up from below, and one day the red has become gray."
He added, "The civil servants around you are such experts with their own logic that when you talk with them, everything they say seems right. In the end, the people chose red or blue, but later you see the gray has infiltrated everything and it's turned murky."
"You must constantly study and explore what the people—the source of our power—want, endure what pushes up from below, and push it back down," Lee said. "I too am making tremendous efforts not to turn gray, not relying solely on your reports every day."
The president's remarks came after Employment and Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon reported that unlimited reward payments for reporting violations "could be abused like paparazzi," prompting Lee to shake his head. His response was interpreted as an indirect criticism that "paparazzi" concerns reflect career bureaucrats' logic.
"So what if there are paparazzi? I think it's fine if it becomes a profession," Lee said.
Lee also emphasized the need to reform the current criminal penalty system. "Criminal punishment has been so overused that the principle of legality has effectively collapsed," he said. "Since almost anything can be punished, prosecutorial power has grown too large, leading to criticism of Korea becoming a 'prosecutorial state.' Some have even reached the point of using judicial power for politics."
He continued, "Because regulations are vague, they get interpreted broadly or manipulated, and we've ended up with a primitive society without standards. Korea probably has the most criminal records per capita in the world. Most ordinary people have a criminal record."
Lee suggested that penalties should be designed around fines and surcharges rather than criminal punishment. "In the past, economic sanctions like fines may have been considered ineffective due to lack of economic capacity, so criminal punishment was used. But now economic sanctions are more effective," he said, adding that the intensity of economic sanctions should be increased to ensure effectiveness.
The president also drew attention by reiterating "universal human rights" regarding Middle East conflicts. "I urge the warring parties to take courageous steps toward the peace the world earnestly desires, based on principles of universal human rights protection and lessons of history," he said. This was notable as he spoke directly at an official state meeting, unlike previous messages limited to social media.
Earlier on X (formerly Twitter), Lee wrote, "Shouldn't we save the Earth first?" adding, "Those offering commentary like experts just because they play omok [a board game], commentary is fine, but please don't flip the board." This emphasized the importance of internal unity amid the economic crisis caused by Middle East conflicts.
On responding to the Middle East situation, Lee said, "We must accelerate efforts to improve the vulnerabilities in our economic and industrial structure revealed during the war," calling for alternative supply chain development, mid-to-long-term industrial restructuring, and a post-plastic economy to be pursued as top national priority projects.
Lee also tightened the reins on real estate market normalization, reiterating guidelines for "complete exclusion of interested parties" from housing and real estate policymaking. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is currently reviewing exclusion measures based on property registration records of employees at the section chief level and above. Following Lee's directive, speculation emerged among government ministries that the policy exclusion scope may expand to include lower-ranking officials.
