[Breaking News] Lee Gang-seop Appointed New Commissioner of the Legislation Office; Choi Jong-geon Becomes First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Blue House Secretary... Nine Deputy Minister-Level Appointments

(From left) Lee Kang-seop, nominee for the new Minister of Legislation, Choi Jong-geon, nominee for the new First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs

[Asia Economy Reporter Son Sun-hee] On the 14th, President Moon Jae-in appointed Lee Kang-seop, Deputy Chief of the Ministry of Legislation (56), as the new Chief of the Ministry of Legislation, and Choi Jong-geon, Peace Planning Secretary of the National Security Council (NSC) at the Blue House (46), as the First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The Blue House announced a total of nine vice minister-level appointments that day. Lee Jae-young, Director of Government Innovation Organization at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (54), was appointed as the new Vice Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety; Park Jun-young, Director of Planning and Coordination at the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (53), as Vice Minister of Oceans and Fisheries; Heo Tae-woong, President of Korea National College of Agriculture and Fisheries under the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (55), as Administrator of the Rural Development Administration; Kim Yong-rae, Director of Industrial Innovation Growth at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (52), as Commissioner of the Korean Intellectual Property Office; Yang Chung-mo, Fiscal Management Officer at the Ministry of Strategy and Finance (57), as Administrator of the Saemangeum Development and Investment Agency; Lee Nam-woo, Director of Personnel Welfare at the Ministry of National Defense (53), as Vice Minister of the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs; and Kim Jae-shin, Secretary-General of the Korea Fair Trade Commission (52), as Vice Chairman of the Korea Fair Trade Commission.

The new Chief of the Ministry of Legislation, Lee, graduated from Yangjeong High School in Seoul and Yonsei University with a degree in Business Administration, earned a master's degree in Public Administration from Seoul National University, and a doctorate in Law from Syracuse University in the United States. He passed the 31st Administrative Examination and has served as Director of the Social and Cultural Legislation Bureau, Economic Legislation Bureau, and Legal Interpretation Bureau at the Ministry of Legislation.

The new First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Choi, has worked as the Peace Planning Secretary at the Blue House for about a year and a half since March last year, overseeing North Korea-related policies. There were rumors of conflicts with his direct superior, Kim Hyun-jong, the NSC Second Vice Chief, and at one point, it was said that he had offered to resign, but with this appointment, he naturally moved to a new position. With Cho Se-young, a prominent 'Japan expert' and the previous First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, stepping down, changes in Japan policy are also anticipated.