Moon names new top financial regulator, trade minister

Newly nominated and appointed high-level government officials. Clockwise from top left are Song Doo-hwan, nominee for the head of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea; Koh Seung-beom, nominee for the head of the Financial Services Commission; Ko Kyu-chang, the new vice minister for interior and safety; Lee Seung-woo, the new vice minister for disaster and safety management; Hong Hyun-ik, the new head of the Korea National Diplomatic Academy; Park Moo-ik, the new head of the National Agency for Administrative City Construction; Yeo Han-koo, the new trade minister; and Park Ki-young, the new vice minister for trade, industry and energy. Courtesy of Cheong Wa Dae

Heads of economy-related organizations replaced

By Kim Rahn

President Moon Jae-in nominated or appointed a number of high-level officials mostly in economy-related government organizations on Thursday, showing his commitment to reviving the pandemic-hit economy in the last stage of his term.

Koh Seung-beom, a member of the Bank of Korea's (BOK) rate-setting monetary policy board, has been nominated to lead the Financial Services Commission (FSC). He has held various posts on the commission before this current position at the central bank.

"An expert in finance, he has a deep understanding of financial policy in general and he is the first person to have a second term as a BOK board member," senior presidential secretary for public communication Park Soo-hyun said in a briefing.

"With his knowledge of the macroeconomy, we hope he will deal with financial issues such as offering financial support for COVID-19-hit people, controlling household debt, reforming the financial industry in the digital era and contributing to the rapid revival of the nation's economy through close cooperation with relevant organizations."

Koh will have to undergo a confirmation hearing by the National Assembly, with the date to be decided later.

Jeong Eun-bo, a former top negotiator for Korea in the defense cost-sharing talks with the U.S., has been named as head of the Financial Supervisory Service.

The position is recommended by the FSC, and the president appoints the nominee. It has been vacant for three months since the former head retired.

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Jeong has held various positions in finance-related organizations such as the FSC and the finance ministry, and he has been recognized for his expertise in international finance. He has held the negotiator position at the foreign affairs ministry since 2019 and concluded the defense cost-sharing deal earlier this year, which had been stalled due to former U.S. President Donald Trump's demand for a heavy increase in Seoul's share.

Senior presidential secretary for public communication Park Soo-hyun announces the nomination and appointments of several high-ranking government officials during a briefing at Cheong Wa Dae, Seoul, Thursday.

Yeo Han-koo, who has been the presidential secretary for the New Southern and New Northern policies, has been tapped as Korea's trade minister, replacing Yoo Myung-hee, who had made a bid for the top post at the World Trade Organization but failed.

"Yeo is recognized for having strong capability in setting up and coordinating policies on international trade and economic cooperation. We expect him to be able to deal well with pressing issues, such as setting up strategies for global trade orders that are being reorganized," the senior secretary said.

Park Ki-young, head of the trade, industry and energy ministry's planning and coordination office, was promoted to vice minister. "He has high expertise in energy policy, and we believe he can play a key role in the government's relevant policies, such as Korea's Green New Deal and net zero initiatives," the senior secretary said.

Song Doo-hwan, a human rights lawyer and a former Constitutional Court justice, was nominated as head of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea. He has to undergo the Assembly's confirmation hearing to be appointed.

A managing partner of the law firm Hankyul, Song was the head of Lawyers for a Democratic Society, or Minbyun, a group of progressive lawyers, as well as the human rights sector director at the Korean Bar Association.

In 2003, he led a special counsel team to investigate suspicions that South Korea had given money to North Korea ahead of the first inter-Korean summit in 2000.

"He has worked to expand people's basic rights and to protect the human rights of social minority groups," senior secretary Park said, adding that Song was selected through an open recruitment and due process recommended by the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions.

Ko Kyu-chang, a senior official at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, was promoted to vice minister, and Lee Seung-woo, another senior official there, to the vice minister for disaster and safety management.

Transport ministry senior official Park Moo-ik was named as the chief of the National Agency for Administrative City Construction, and Sejong Institute senior researcher Hong Hyun-ik will lead the Korea National Diplomatic Academy.

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