South Korea’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol departed Incheon Airport on Sunday morning for the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, after nearly canceling the U.S. trip when he learned at the airport that he would be replaced in a cabinet reshuffle. He ultimately boarded as scheduled, concluding he remained responsible for official duties until his successor took office. The morning had already produced confusion when the Ministry of Finance and Economy canceled a planned departure press release around 10 a.m. and redistributed it around 11 a.m., fueling reshuffle speculation. Around 11 a.m., Cheong Wa Dae announced that First Vice Minister of Finance and Economy Lee Hyoung-il had been nominated as the new deputy prime minister candidate. A ministry source had linked the press-notice disruption to Koo’s review of alternative flights and said any cancellation-and-reversal of the G20 trip was not due to the reshuffle, after earlier messaging also cited a domestic scheduling communication error; an official had confirmed around 10:40 a.m. that he had boarded. Koo is still due to hold bilateral meetings, including with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, attend the G20 sessions, present South Korea’s economic fundamentals and growth-potential efforts, and discuss debt, global imbalances and cooperation with major-economy counterparts while remaining the incumbent until his successor formally takes office.