President Yoon named six new cabinet members, including Presidential Senior Economic Affairs Secretary Choi Sang-mok, tapped as deputy prime minister-minister-nominee of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MOEF); ex-LH president Park Sang-woo as minister-nominee of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation (MOLIT); and former Sookmyung Women’s University president Kang Jung-ai as minister-nominee of the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, presidential Chief of Staff Kim Dae-ki said.
President Yoon also tapped Song Mi-ryung, former president of Korea Rural Economic Institute, as minister-nominee of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA), Oh Young-joo, second vice minister of foreign affairs, as minister-nominee of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS), and Kang Do-hyung, president of Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology, as minister-nominee of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF).
A number of cabinet members, including Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon, who are to run for the general election slated for next April, are expected to be replaced on top of MOEF Minister Cho Kyung-ho, MOLIT Minister Won Hee-ryong, Patriots and Veterans Affairs Minister Park Min-shik.
Deputy Prime Minister-MOEF Minister-nominee Choi is a veteran economic technocrat versed in macroeconomic policies and financial affairs.
Choi graduated from Seoul National University Law College and obtained a master’s degree and a doctorate degree in economics from Cornell University.
He held positions, such as presidential secretary in charge of economic and financial affairs, first MOEF vice minister and first senior presidential secretary for economic affairs under the President Yoon government.
Announcing his nomination, the Presidential Office described the nominee as a top expert in the economic policy sector with extensive knowledge and insight.
Experts demanded that Deputy Prime Minister-MOEF Minister-nominee Choi, who will lead the second economic team under the President Yoon government, should focus on economic recovery.
Deputy Prime Minister-MOEF Minister-nominee, who has led the first economic team of the current government, has stuck to fiscal soundness over surging government debt, but some experts demand the upcoming second economic team to show flexibility according to market changes.
They suggest the new economic team concentrate on stabilizing prices and policies to solve pending issues related to public livelihood while attaching priority to tax credit to new growth engine industries, such as the secondary battery, whose hegemony is to be realigned in the upcoming few years.
MOLIT Minister-nominee Park graduated from Korea University Public Administration Department and passed the 27th higher administrative examination in 1983.
He held positions, such as director of housing policy and director-general in charge of land policy at the Ministry of Construction and Transportation, deputy minister in charge of housing and land and deputy minister in planning and coordination at MOLIT, Korea Research Institute for Construction Policy (RICON) and president of Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH).
Explaining his nomination, the Presidential Office said, “MOLIT Minister-nominee Park is a seasoned bureaucrat with rich experiences in the land and transportation sectors, and he is considered to have the right stuffs to step up public housing stability and spearhead mobility innovation.”
Three of the six cabinet members, nominated by President Yoon on the same day, are women. One of them is Patriots and Veterans Affairs Minister-nominee Kang.
She graduated from Sookmyung Women’s University Public Administration Department and obtained a doctorate degree in human resources economics from the Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne University.
She is the daughter of a decorated veteran of the Korean War.
SMEs and Startups Minister nominee Oh is a veteran diplomat who has been serving as the second vice foreign minister in charge of economic diplomacy under the Yoon government.
MOF Minister-nominee obtained his master’s and doctoral degrees in marine biology at Jeju National University.
He is an expert specialized in marine biology and served as head of the Jeju Research Institute.
