Health and Welfare Minister Nominee Kwon Deok-cheol... "Strength in Communication Skills" (Comprehensive)

Moon Jae-in Government's First Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare... First Internal Appointment in 19 Years

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jeong] Kwon Deok-cheol, president of the Korea Health Industry Development Institute, was appointed as the Minister of Health and Welfare on the 4th.

This is the second time an internal candidate has been appointed as the Minister of Health and Welfare, marking the first time in 19 years since former Minister Choi Seon-jung (August 7, 2000 ? March 22, 2001) during the Kim Dae-jung administration.

Appointee Kwon was born in 1961 in Namwon, Jeonbuk, and graduated from Jeonbuk Jeollago High School and Sungkyunkwan University with a degree in Public Administration. He later earned his master's and doctoral degrees in Public Administration from the German Speyer Graduate School of Public Administration.

A 31st pass of the Administrative Examination, he has held key positions at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, including Planning and Budget Officer, Financial Planning Officer, Childcare Policy Officer, Welfare Policy Officer, Director of Health and Medical Policy, and Director of Planning and Coordination, earning recognition as an expert covering both healthcare and social welfare fields.

He served as the Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare at the start of the Moon Jae-in administration and was praised for smoothly coordinating the urgent tasks of Moon Jae-in Care. In September last year, he was appointed as the president of the Korea Health Industry Development Institute for a three-year term.

Kwon is highly trusted by his juniors within the Ministry of Health and Welfare and is known for emphasizing communication within the organization, making him a suitable candidate to resolve current conflicts in the healthcare sector. In 2013, when the Korean Medical Association (KMA) opposed the introduction of telemedicine and planned a strike, he served as the government negotiation team leader and successfully induced the withdrawal of the strike.

During the 2015 MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) outbreak, he served as the head of the Central MERS Management Headquarters, gaining experience in infectious disease crisis management.

On the same day, Chung Man-ho, Senior Secretary for Public Communication at the Blue House, said, "Appointee Kwon is an administrative expert who served as the first Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare under the Moon administration. Through his long policy experience and strong yet gentle leadership, he will proactively respond to COVID-19, strengthen public healthcare, protect vulnerable groups, and successfully carry out key tasks."

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