"Leadership Change After 7 Months"…Ji Young-mi Appointed as New Director of Disease Control Agency (Comprehensive)

International Virus Expert Who Served as WHO COVID-19 Emergency Committee Member
Spouse of Professor Lee Cheol-woo, 'Yoon President's Childhood Friend'
Baek Kyung-ran Resigns Amid 'Stock Controversy' Pressure

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] Ji Young-mi, director of the Korea Pasteur Institute (pictured), has been appointed as the new Commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Baek Kyung-ran, the first KDCA commissioner under the Yoon Seok-yeol administration, resigned voluntarily after seven months in office.

According to the presidential office on the 16th, Ji, a graduate of Seoul National University College of Medicine, earned her master's and doctoral degrees in medicine from the University of London and has worked for over 25 years at major domestic and international health and research institutions as an international infectious disease expert.

She has served as director of the Infectious Disease Research Center and Immunopathology Center at the National Institute of Health under the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, head of the Pan-Governmental Infectious Disease Research Forum, president of the Korean Society of Infectious Diseases, special health and medical advisor to Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, and special representative for health diplomacy at the Korea Foundation for International Exchange.

Additionally, she worked as the regional coordinator for the immunization program at the World Health Organization (WHO) Western Pacific Regional Office and is currently a member of the WHO COVID-19 Emergency Committee.

A presidential office official explained, "Ji is one of the global members of the WHO COVID-19 Emergency Committee and participated in the vote to declare the COVID-19 international public health emergency (PHEIC). She is a world-renowned expert who has served as a member of the WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on immunization."

Ji is also known as the spouse of Lee Cheol-woo, a professor at Yonsei University Law School, who is a childhood friend from Daekwang Elementary School and a classmate from Seoul National University Law School, making them 'friends since 1955.' Professor Lee mainly supported candidate Yoon from the sidelines during the last presidential election.

Meanwhile, Baek Kyung-ran reportedly recently expressed his intention to resign amid controversies related to stock holdings. Since his appointment, he faced criticism and calls for resignation from opposition parties due to potential conflicts of interest stemming from his holdings in bio-related stocks such as SK Bioscience, SK Biopharm, and Syntekabio. Although he later announced that he had disposed of all such stocks, the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee accused Baek of refusing to submit documents related to stock transactions and perjury during a parliamentary audit, leading to his referral to the prosecution last month.

When asked about the reason for Baek's resignation, a presidential office official responded, "Since the launch of the new government, Commissioner Baek has excellently fulfilled his role in establishing the foundation for science-based quarantine measures. As the roadmap for daily recovery is nearing completion, he felt he had fulfilled his duties and decided to resign."

Accordingly, Baek, who took office on May 18 and announced his resignation after only seven months, will hold the record for the shortest tenure as head of the KDCA, including the period when it was known as the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. His predecessor, former Commissioner Jung Eun-kyung, served as the head of quarantine for four years and ten months.

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