Yoon Government Appoints Park Jin as Foreign Minister and Kwon Young-se as Unification Minister (Update)

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol is announcing the inaugural cabinet list on the afternoon of the 10th at the 20th Presidential Transition Committee in Tongui-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul. / Photo by the Transition Committee Press Corps

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[Asia Economy Reporter Kum Bo-ryeong] Park Jin, a member of the People Power Party, has been appointed as the first Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, and Kwon Young-se, also a member of the People Power Party, has been appointed as the Minister of Unification.

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol announced the second cabinet lineup, including these appointments, on the afternoon of the 13th at a press conference held at the Presidential Transition Committee in Tongui-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul.

Born in 1956, Park graduated from Gyeonggi High School and Seoul National University with a degree in law. He later earned a master's degree in public administration from Harvard University in the United States and a doctorate in political science from Oxford University in the United Kingdom.

Park, who entered public service as the 11th pass of the Foreign Service Examination, is a four-term veteran lawmaker. He has been active on the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee and even served as its chairman. During Yoon's candidacy, he served as the chairman of the People Power Party's Central Election Committee's Global Vision Committee.

Known as a so-called "America expert," Park recently visited the United States as the head of Yoon's Korea-US Policy Consultation Delegation.

Regarding Park, President-elect Yoon said, "He is recognized as a strategic diplomat in US relations to the extent that he held a one-on-one meeting with then US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joe Biden in 2008," adding, "Based on his extensive experience in diplomatic fields, I believe he will greatly contribute to normalizing our stalled diplomacy and transforming Korea into a global pivotal state that fulfills its responsibilities and solidarity in the international community."

Born in 1959, Kwon graduated from Seoul National University with a degree in law and from Harvard Kennedy School in the United States. After passing the judicial examination, he worked as a prosecutor. He is a four-term veteran lawmaker who has served as chairman of the National Assembly Intelligence Committee and also served as ambassador to China during the Park Geun-hye administration.

In the presidential election, he served as the head of the People Power Party's election campaign headquarters and later as vice chairman of the transition committee.

President-elect Yoon emphasized, "Based on his expertise and extensive experience in unification and foreign affairs, I believe he is the right person to open a true era of peace on the Korean Peninsula through the normalization of inter-Korean relations based on principles, as well as addressing the North Korean nuclear issue."

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