President-elect nominates 8 Cabinet ministers

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, center, speaks during a press conference to announce eight ministerial nominees at the transition committee's headquarters in central Seoul, Sunday. Yonhap

Choo Kyung-ho nominated as deputy prime minister; Lee Jong-sup as defense minister

By Jung Da-min

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol announced his choices for eight Cabinet ministers on Sunday in the first batch of nominations.

The nominations came a month before Yoon takes office on May 10.

During a press conference at the transition committee's headquarters in central Seoul, Sunday, Yoon named the eight nominees, including Rep. Choo Kyung-ho of the main opposition conservative People Power Party (PPP) as next deputy prime minister and finance minister and former Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Vice Chairman Lee Jong-sup as defense minister.

The eight ministries are the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Ministry of Science and ICT.

When asked about the criteria for the selections, Yoon said he just saw one critical factor: whether the nominees have the capabilities to handle their work and lead their ministries well for the sake of the nation and the people.

When asked how the transition committee and the PPP are going to deal with the now-ruling liberal Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), which vowed earlier to thoroughly screen each nominee at the National Assembly's confirmation hearings, the president-elect said, "I believe standards for selecting and screening high-ranking officials should be viewed from the general public's point of view. I have nothing more to say."

Yoon underlined merit-based selections, noting that there was no political consideration behind his selections of Cabinet nominees. Four of the nominees are in their 60s and the remaining four are in their 50s.

Rep. Park Hong-keun, floor leader of the ruling DPK, was critical of the selections. He said Yoon's nominations of eight Cabinet ministers are seen as a quick fix to fill in the Cabinet without a political vision or principle, warning of a thorough, principled screening of the nominees at the hearings based on fairness, ethics and common sense.

Clockwise from top left are: Choo Kyung-ho, Lee Chang-yang, Won Hee-ryong, Lee Jong-sup, Kim Hyun-sook, Park Bo-gyoon, Chung Ho-young and Lee Jong-ho. Yonhap

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Former Jeju Governor Won Hee-ryong was named land minister and former lawmaker Kim Hyun-sook minister of gender equality and family. Park Bo-gyoon, former vice president of the JoongAng Ilbo newspaper, was named culture minister. All of the three were members of Yoon's election camp.

Some people said the nomination of former governor Won was rather a surprise when the other nominees are scholars or experts in different fields. Yoon said Won successfully carried out projects for Jeju while serving as the governor.

Responding to such criticism, Won said the next land minister should focus on stabilizing housing prices for ordinary people and vowed to be sure to listen to public opinion as well as the views of experts, if he becomes the minister.

Lee Chang-yang, a professor at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, was named industry minister, and Lee Jong-ho, chief of Seoul National University's semiconductor research institute, was named science minister.

Chung Ho-young, former chief of Kyungpook National University Hospital, was nominated as health minister.

Yoon said he picked the veteran surgeon with 37 years of field experience based on majority opinion within the committee that the next minister should be chosen among medical experts when the nation is dealing with the COVID-19 crisis.

The appointment of minister of gender equality and family especially drew attention as Yoon has vowed to abolish the ministry as one of his major policy pledges.

Kim said, "It is too early to talk about the timing of reorganizing the ministry."

She went on to say that she plans to listen to various opinions from different groups, including opposition parties and the general public, although the ministry will be transformed into a new one as Yoon pledged.

Deputy prime minister and finance minister nominee Choo said he sees the current economic situation facing the country as grim with internal and external conditions being unfavorable, including inflation and household and national debt.

"From a macro perspective, the means that can be mobilized by the government are also very limited. The top priority of the new government will be stabilizing the cost of living for ordinary people," he said.

Defense minister nominee Lee said he believe both strengthening the military's self-defense capability and strengthening the South Korea-U.S. alliance to secure U.S. extended deterrence against North Korea's military provocation are both important.

Earlier on April 3, Yoon nominated former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo as his first prime minister.