Government Organization Act Approved by National Assembly, Adopted by Cabinet Meeting in One Day... Who Is the First Minister of the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs?

Current Director Park Min-sik Mentioned as Minister Candidate
Vacancy Expected if He Declares Candidacy for Next Year's General Election

The revised Government Organization Act, amended nine months after the launch of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, was promulgated just one day after passing the National Assembly. Attention is focused on the first minister to be appointed following the elevation of the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs to the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans.

On the morning of the 28th, the government held a Cabinet meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho, where it approved two legal promulgation bills, including the revised Government Organization Act and the Act on Entrusted Elections of Public Organizations.

Park Min-sik, Director of the Veterans Affairs Office

The revised Government Organization Act, passed by the plenary session of the National Assembly the previous day, centers on elevating the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs to the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans to strengthen the functions of honoring and supporting national veterans and their families and to promote more efficient veterans policies.

The newly established Ministry of Patriots and Veterans will be the ninth among administrative ministries. Upon elevation to a ministry, the head of the organization will change from the current Commissioner of the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs to the Minister of Patriots and Veterans. Additionally, the revision includes the establishment of the Ministry of Overseas Koreans to comprehensively formulate and implement policies for overseas Koreans. The Overseas Koreans Foundation, a public institution under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs currently handling these duties, will be abolished.

The revision is scheduled to take effect three months after promulgation, with the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans and the Ministry of Overseas Koreans launching in June. The organization will also expand. Currently, the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs operates under a ‘1 Office, 5 Bureaus, 4 Divisions’ system, but upon elevation to a ministry, the organization is expected to expand and the number of senior public officials will increase.

There is a high expectation that the current Commissioner of the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, Park Min-sik, will be nominated as the minister of the newly established Ministry of Patriots and Veterans. If nominated, he will be appointed as minister after a confirmation hearing in the National Assembly. A Ministry of Patriots and Veterans official stated, "It appears that Commissioner (Park Min-sik) will continue overseeing veterans affairs, so there should be no administrative issues."

The issue is that Commissioner Park is rumored to be considering running in next year’s general election. Park served as a member of the National Assembly for Busan Bukgangseo-gap in the 18th and 19th sessions. Although he lost in the same district in the 20th and 21st general elections, he was appointed Commissioner of the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs immediately after President Yoon Suk-yeol took office. Before his appointment as commissioner, he showed political ambitions by expressing his intention to run in the by-election for Seongnam Bundang-gap in Gyeonggi Province.

Because of this, concerns have been raised that if Commissioner Park resigns to receive the People Power Party’s nomination at the end of this year or early next year, the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans could be left without a minister within six months. Some voices argue that since the status of the ministry responsible for veterans welfare has increased, if Park decides to run in next year’s general election, he should resign before the elevation of the ministry.

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