Kim Seung-hee, Minister of Health and Welfare Nominee, 'Food Pharmacology Expert' with Experience at MFDS and National Assembly

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] On the 26th, Kim Seung-hee, a former member of the National Assembly, was nominated as the first Minister of Health and Welfare under the Yoon Seok-yeol administration.

Candidate Minister Kim was born in 1954 and graduated from Gyeonggi Girls' High School and Seoul National University College of Pharmacy. She is an expert in the field of food pharmacology, having worked at the National Institute of Health and Safety, the National Toxicology Research Center, and as a visiting professor at Yonsei University College of Pharmacy. From 2015 to 2016, she served as the Commissioner of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety during the Park Geun-hye administration, and in 2017, she entered the National Assembly as a proportional representative of the Liberty Korea Party, the predecessor of the People Power Party. Since January 2020, she has also served as the secretary of the Health and Welfare Committee. Currently, she is active as a member of the Social Subcommittee of the National Integration Committee in the 21st National Assembly.

The Presidential Office stated, "She is an authority in the health and medical field, having served as the Director of the National Institute of Food and Drug Safety Evaluation and Commissioner of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, and was recognized for her expertise as a proportional representative member of the National Assembly." They added, "She has served as a member of the National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee and as secretary of the Special Committee on COVID-19 Measures, presenting policies on health and welfare and alternatives for COVID-19."

They further expressed, "Her experience and expertise accumulated in the field, government, and National Assembly will contribute to achieving the health and welfare policy goals of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration."

If candidate Kim is finally appointed, she will become the first pharmacist to serve as Minister of Health and Welfare since the ministry's establishment in 1994.

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