Jeong Eun-kyung Appointed as First Commissioner of Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency... Kang Do-tae, Second Vice Minister of Health and Welfare

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jeong] Jeong Eun-kyung (55), Director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has been appointed as the first Commissioner of the newly established Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, which will launch on the 12th of this month.

The Blue House announced on the 8th that President Moon Jae-in plans to appoint Director Jeong as the Commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.

The newly appointed Commissioner Jeong graduated from Gwangju Jeonnam Girls' High School and Seoul National University College of Medicine, and earned a master's degree in public health and a doctorate in preventive medicine from the same university. She is currently leading the Central Disease Control Headquarters.

After being hired as a health research officer, she served as Director of the Emergency Medical Service Division and Disease Policy Division at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Director of the Disease Prevention Center at the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Director of the Emergency Situation Center at the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Earlier that day, the Cabinet meeting passed an amendment to upgrade the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. This upgrade is the first in 16 years since the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was established in 2004. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency will launch with a staff of 1,476, which is about a 42% increase from the previous number, and will be composed of the Commissioner at the vice-ministerial level, a Deputy Commissioner, 5 bureaus, 3 offices, and 41 divisions.

President Moon appointed Kang Do-tae, Director of Planning and Coordination at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, as the second Vice Minister of the newly established Ministry of Health and Welfare. The newly appointed Vice Minister Kang passed the 35th Administrative Examination and has held positions such as Welfare Administration Support Officer, Health and Medical Policy Officer, and Director of Health and Medical Policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.