Veteran South Korean economist Lee Hye-hoon nominated as new Minister for Planning and Budget

Seoul, Dec 28 South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has nominated veteran economist and former three-term lawmaker from the conservative camp, Lee Hye-hoon, as the new Minister for Planning and Budget, the presidential office said Sunday.

Lee was tapped as the inaugural head of the Ministry of Planning and Budget, which will be installed under the Prime Minister's Office as part of a government reorganisation bill set to take effect in January, Presidential Secretary for Public Relations and Communication, Lee Kyu-yeon, said at a briefing, Yonhap News Agency reported.

She previously served three terms in the National Assembly in the conservative bloc and ran on the main opposition People Power Party's ticket in the April 2024 parliamentary elections.

Under the new structure, the Ministry of Finance and Economy will act as the government's policy control tower, while the newly created Ministry of Planning and Budget will be in charge of allocating the budget and crafting mid- to long-term economic strategies.

The nominee has extensive experience in both policymaking and research, having served on the National Assembly's Special Committee on Budget and Accounts and as a research fellow at the state-run Korea Development Institute.

She also led legislative efforts to revise the Minimum Wage Act to penalise employers who pay below the legal minimum, as well as amendments to the Interest Limitation Act to cap interest rates.

"Based on her years of legislative experience, the nominee is regarded as the right person to help the soon-to-be-launched Ministry of Planning and Budget formulate the nation's mid- to long-term strategies and restore future growth engines," Press Secretary Lee said.

Her nomination will be subject to a parliamentary confirmation hearing, though the President can proceed with the appointment regardless of the outcome.

In a statement released to the press, the nominee promised to do her best to fulfil her role as the chief of a ministry tasked with realising the Lee administration's policy goals of achieving both welfare and growth and introducing sustainable growth.

"At a time when conflict and division are becoming obstacles to state affairs more than any other time in the past, I, with a heavy sense of responsibility, will pour everything I have studied and accumulated over my lifetime into economic revival and national unity," she said.

President Lee also appointed former two-term lawmaker Kim Song-sik as vice chair of the National Economic Advisory Council, which directly advises the President on key economic policies and national development strategies.

During his time in the National Assembly, Kim was active on budget and finance-related committees and was known as a policy-minded reformer.

Lee Kyung-soo, Chairman of nuclear fusion startup Enable Fusion, was named Vice Chair of the National Science and Technology Advisory Council.

In addition, Kim Jong-gu, former head of food policy at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, was promoted to Vice Minister, while Hong Ji-seon, Vice Mayor of Namyangju, was tapped as second Vice Minister of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport.

Rep. Cho Jung-sik of the ruling Democratic Party, now in his sixth term, was appointed as the President's Special Adviser for Political Affairs.

Lee Han-joo, chairman of the National Research Council for Economics, Humanities and Social Sciences, was named Special Adviser for Policy. He previously led the Presidential State Affairs Planning Committee, which served as the transition team for the Lee administration.

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