Yoon Appoints Former Minister Yoo In-chon as Presidential Cultural Special Advisor... Accelerating Reform of Culture and Sports Policies (Comprehensive)

Yoon Recently Points to Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as Ideological Department
Following Appointment of Jang Mi-ran, Appointment of Yoo In-chon
Wrapping Up Deputy Minister-Level Agency Head Successions

President Yoon Suk-yeol appointed former Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Yoo In-chon as a minister-level Special Presidential Advisor for Culture and Sports (Cultural Special Advisor) on the 6th.

With the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism being one of the ideological ministries influenced by political leanings, President Yoon plans to reform the regressive practices in cultural and artistic policies and inject innovation by appointing Special Advisor Yoo following the new Vice Minister Jang Mi-ran.

The presidential office spokesperson announced through a press release that President Yoon appointed former Minister Yoo as the Special Presidential Advisor for Culture and Sports that morning. The special advisor position holds ministerial rank.

Special Advisor Yoo graduated with a master's degree from the Department of Theater and Film at Chung-Ang University and its graduate school, and has worked as a theater actor and director. He was appointed Minister of Culture in 2008 at the start of the Lee Myung-bak (MB) administration and served for three years until 2011.

Effectively, both of President Yoon’s special advisors, including Lee Dong-gwan, the Special Advisor for External Cooperation who is likely to be nominated as Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission, are figures from the Lee Myung-bak (MB) government. In April, former President Lee even visited a theater to watch the play Faust starring Special Advisor Yoo.

Special Advisor Yoo has reportedly served as an advisor on cultural and artistic policies since the launch of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration. During his tenure as Minister of Culture, current Presidential Chief of Staff Kim Dae-gi served as the second vice minister, which is expected to facilitate smooth communication with the presidential office going forward.

Personnel appointments for vice minister-level agency heads have also been finalized. Lee Hyung-il, Deputy Minister of Planning and Finance, was appointed as the new Commissioner of Statistics Korea; Kim Yoon-sang, Director of Fiscal Management at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, as the head of the Public Procurement Service; and Ko Kwang-hyo, Director of the Tax Policy Office at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, as Commissioner of the Korea Customs Service. All are civil servants from the 36th Administrative Examination and the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Newly appointed Lee Hyung-il, the new Commissioner of Statistics Korea (from the left), Ko Kwang-hyo, the new Commissioner of the Korea Customs Service, and Kim Yoon-sang, the new Commissioner of the Public Procurement Service, on the 6th.
[Photo by the Presidential Office]

Lee previously served as Director of the Comprehensive Policy Division and Director of the Economic Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Kim served as Director of the Budget General Division and spokesperson at the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Ko held positions including Administrative Officer at the Presidential Office’s Economic and Financial Secretary Office, Standing Judge at the Tax Tribunal of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, and Director of Income and Corporate Tax Policy.

Additionally, Cho Hong-sun, Investigation Management Officer at the Fair Trade Commission, was appointed as Vice Chairman of the Fair Trade Commission; Kim Kyung-an, former head of the People Power Party’s Jeonbuk Iksan Gap district, as head of the Saemangeum Development Authority; and Kang Hee-eop, standing member of the Metropolitan Area Wide-area Transportation Committee, as chairman of the Metropolitan Area Wide-area Transportation Committee.

Cho entered public service through the 37th Administrative Examination and has served as Secretary-General, Director of the Cartel Investigation Bureau, and Director of Distribution Policy. Kim, from Iksan, Jeonbuk, graduated from Namseong High School and Wonkwang University and has served as a member of the Jeonbuk Provincial Assembly and president of Seonam University. Kang entered through the 30th Technical Examination and has served as Director of Railway Safety Policy and Director of the Railway Bureau.

Meanwhile, some vacant presidential office secretary positions resulting from the June 29 reshuffle were filled on the 5th. Kang Myung-gu, senior administrative officer of the Presidential Secretariat, was appointed Secretary for National Planning; Kim Jong-moon, Director of the Regulatory Coordination Office at the Office for Government Policy Coordination, as Secretary for National Tasks; and Choi Won-ho, head of the Korea Aerospace Agency Establishment Promotion Team, as Secretary for Science and Technology. They have already started working at the Yongsan Presidential Office.

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