President Yoon Appoints 21 Deputy Ministers and Heads of Ministries and Agencies... Kim Chang-gi Named Commissioner of National Tax Service

"Merit-Based Personnel"... Seoul National University, 1960s Generation, and Men Predominantly Positioned

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] On the 13th, President Yoon Seok-yeol announced the appointment of 21 personnel including the new Commissioner of the National Tax Service, Kim Chang-gi, former head of the Busan Regional National Tax Service, as well as heads and deputy ministers of various ministries. This appointment is evaluated to have been made based on ability and performance, similar to the previous appointments of ministers and presidential office staff. However, as in previous cases, criticism follows that diversity is lacking as the appointees are predominantly male, born in the 1960s, and graduates of Seoul National University.

Park Min-sik, former member of the National Assembly, was appointed as the head of the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs; Kim Seung-ho, former chairman of the Personnel Appeals Committee at the Ministry of Personnel Management, as the head of the Ministry of Personnel Management; and lawyer Lee Wan-gyu as the head of the Ministry of Government Legislation. Oh Tae-seok, Science and Technology Innovation Coordinator at the Ministry of Science and ICT, was appointed as the 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, and Professor Joo Young-chang of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Seoul National University was appointed as the head of the Science and Technology Innovation Headquarters. Kim Gun, Ambassador to the United Kingdom, was appointed as the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Korean Peninsula Peace Negotiation Headquarters; Lee No-gong, former head of the Seongnam branch of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, as Deputy Minister of Justice; and Cho Yong-man, former Planning and Coordination Office Director at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, as the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Additionally, Park Il-jun, former Planning and Coordination Office Director at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, was appointed as the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy; Lee Ki-soon, Youth and Family Policy Director at the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, as Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family; and Eo Myung-so, Director of the Transportation and Logistics Office at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, as the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Kim Chang-gi, the nominee for Commissioner of the National Tax Service, must undergo a confirmation hearing at the National Assembly. Yoon Tae-sik, Director of the Tax Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, was appointed as Commissioner of the Korea Customs Service, an external agency under the Ministry of Economy and Finance; Lee Jong-wook, Planning and Coordination Office Director at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, as Commissioner of the Public Procurement Service; and Han Hoon, Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, as Commissioner of the Statistics Korea.

Furthermore, Lee Ki-sik, former Navy Operations Commander at the Ministry of National Defense, was appointed as Commissioner of the Military Manpower Administration; Choi Eung-cheon, Chairman of the Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation, as Commissioner of the Cultural Heritage Administration; Cho Jae-ho, President of the Korea National College of Agriculture and Fisheries, as Commissioner of the Rural Development Administration; Nam Sung-hyun, former Director of the National Institute of Forest Science, as Commissioner of the Korea Forest Service; Lee Sang-rae, former Senior Administrative Officer at the Office of Social Integration at the Blue House, as Commissioner of the Administrative City Construction Agency; and Kim Kyu-hyun, Standing Member of the Metropolitan Transportation Committee at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, as Commissioner of the Saemangeum Development and Investment Agency.

This appointment, like the previous appointments of ministers and presidential office staff, is evaluated to have prioritized performance and ability over diversity, with appointees predominantly male, born in the 1960s, and graduates of Seoul National University. Among the 21 appointees, 13 graduated from Seoul National University, 2 from Yonsei University, 2 from Konkuk University, 1 from Korea University, 1 from Hanyang University, 1 from the Korea Naval Academy, and 1 from Dongguk University. Except for three born in the 1950s, the rest were born in the 1960s.

Among the 21 appointees announced this time, only two are women. Apart from the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, where women have traditionally served as deputy ministers, the only female deputy minister is at the Ministry of Justice. Deputy Minister Lee, who became the first female 4th Deputy Chief Prosecutor at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in July 2018 when President Yoon was the Chief Prosecutor there, was promoted the following year to head the Seongnam branch, a typical path to becoming a chief prosecutor. A senior official at the presidential office said about this appointment, "As per the basic personnel principles of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration, ability was given the highest priority," adding, "However, it is true that finding talented women and diverse personnel is not easy."

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