Cabinet nearly filled, only ministers of culture and land remain unnamed
President Lee Jae Myung on Sunday announced nominations for six ministerial roles, including the ministers of finance and education who double as deputy prime ministers, as well as top presidential office staff positions.
Koo Yoon-cheol, former deputy finance minister, has been tapped as finance minister and Lee Jin-sook, former president of Chungnam National University, as education minister, according to Kang Hoon-sik, chief of staff to Lee.
Jeong Eun-kyeong, a celebrated former head of the country's disease control agency, has been named health minister.
Sunday's list also included Rep. Jung Sung-ho for justice minister and Rep. Yun Ho-jung for interior minister. Both lawmakers are currently serving their fifth terms in the National Assembly.
Amid the ruling Democratic Party of Korea's worries about deploying former prosecutors to key positions, Bong Wook, a partner at the prestigious law firm Kim & Chang, was made senior civil affairs secretary at the presidential office.
Among nominees for five deputy minister-level positions, Lee Jin-soo for deputy justice minister stood out as a sitting senior prosecutor set to be appointed. Lee Hyung-hoon, named as deputy health minister, spent most of his time in public service shaping health policies.
Kim Hee-su, who was appointed to a deputy director-level post at the National Intelligence Service, is also a former prosecutor.
Veteran bureaucrat as finance minister, deputy prime minister
Koo Yoon-cheol, a former deputy finance minister and visiting professor of economics at Seoul National University, served in the Finance Ministry all throughout his time in public service dating to 1988.
Koo is to be put in charge of reforming the Finance Ministry, which oversees the budgeting of ministries and government offices — one of the main policy initiatives of the Lee administration.
Ex-university president as education minister, deputy prime minister
Lee Jin-sook is a longtime educator who was president of Chungnam National University in South Chungcheong Province. She also sits on the presidential advisory committee for science and technology policies.
Longtime ally as justice minister
Jung Sung-ho is known to be one of Lee's closest allies in the Democratic Party of Korea. The five-term lawmaker has been called the "head of the pro-Lee circle."
As minister of justice, Jung is expected to carry out the Lee administration's key policy goal of overhauling the country's criminal justice system, centering on axing the public prosecution service's investigative functions.
Ex-top campaign official as interior minister
Yun Ho-jung, a five-term Democratic Party lawmaker who was a top official on Lee's campaign team, was named minister of interior and safety. Yun is considered a moderate in the Democratic Party, of which he once served as floor leader.
COVID-19 lead responder as health minister
Jeong Eun-kyeong, who steered South Korea's response to COVID-19 as the chief of the main disease control agency, has been tapped as minister of health and welfare.
Jeong left public office near the end of the COVID-19 crisis and worked as an infectious disease researcher at Seoul National University Hospital from 2022. She joined Lee's presidential campaign in April as one of the most unexpected recruits to the Democratic Party candidate's team.
Trade minister pick from corporate side
Kim Jung-kwan, the president of Doosan Enerbility who previously served as an official at the Finance Ministry until 2018, has been chosen for minister of trade, industry and energy. As the trade and energy minister, Kim would be tasked with the Lee administration's push to accelerate the shift to renewable energy.
Primary rival as top aide
Kim Kyoung-soo, the former governor of South Gyeongsang Province who ran in the Democratic Party primary against Lee, is to handle the president's policies for development outside the Seoul metropolitan area, at a newly launched Presidential Committee for Decentralization and Balanced Development.
Yoon's drug safety minister to stay on
President Lee has decided to keep two ministers from the previous Yoon Suk Yeol administration, retaining Minister of Food and Drug Safety Oh Yu-Kyoung and Minister of Agriculture Song Mi-ryung.
The drug safety minister is a deputy minister-level post.
arin@heraldcorp.com
