Policy reversals offer a lesson in governing

President Lee Jae Myung accepted the resignation of presidential chief of staff for policy Kim Yong-beom on Tuesday. Kim had survived Lee’s Sunday reshuffle of six Cabinet ministers, including the finance and economy minister and land minister, only to be dismissed days later.

With Lee’s approval rating hitting new lows, the move appears unavoidable if he hopes to signal an economic policy reset and regain public confidence. Someone had to take responsibility for weakening the administration’s momentum amid market turmoil over single-stock leveraged exchange-traded funds and deteriorating public sentiment over real estate and tax reforms.

But replacing key economic officials alone cannot reverse public disillusionment. Unless people experience tangible changes, the personnel overhaul will be dismissed as a maneuver to escape a political crisis.

It was therefore fortunate that the government withdrew a tax revision that would have increased the burden on owners of a single home who do not reside in it. At yesterday’s Cabinet meeting, the government decided to maintain their basic deduction for the comprehensive real estate holding tax at the current 1.2 billion won ($874,000), instead of reducing it to 900 million won as originally proposed. It also retained the existing 150 percent cap on annual increases in the tax burden.

Lee instructed officials to broadly consider criticism and alternatives raised by citizens and the National Assembly and incorporate reasonable proposals into legislation and budgets without hesitation.

Listening to the public should be elementary. The government and ruling party must treat this policy failure — in which half-baked proposals confused citizens and contributed to falling approval ratings — as a lesson for the administration’s second year.

Lee has also instructed ministries to adopt a “red team” perspective, actively searching for flaws in existing policies. That approach is needed not only in ministries but also at the Blue House.

It should apply to Lee himself, given his hands-on tendency to scrutinize policies and issue detailed instructions. The ruling party, with its overwhelming parliamentary majority, must also ask whether its decision-making structure is sufficiently democratic and rational for genuine internal dissent to function.

What the Lee administration needs to succeed is not excessive loyalty from officials watching the powerful and chanting “one team, one voice.” It needs people with the conviction and competence to stop unreasonable policies and offer viable alternatives.