First Private Sector Expert Appointed as Director General for Eco-friendly Transition Policy at Ministry of Environment

Jang Gi-bok, Director of Green Transition Policy, Ministry of Environment.

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] A private expert in the fields of green economy policy and environmental market research has been appointed for the first time as the Green Transition Policy Officer at the Ministry of Environment, which oversees eco-friendly transition policies.

On the 20th, the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Personnel Management announced that Jang Gi-bok (age 56), a senior research fellow at the Korea Environment Institute who applied for the director-level open career position, has been appointed as the Green Transition Policy Officer at the Ministry of Environment.

Discovered through government headhunting for recruiting private sector talent, Policy Officer Jang Gi-bok was finally appointed after passing the document screening and interview by the Central Selection Examination Committee, the director-level competency evaluation, and the Senior Public Official Appointment Review Committee.

This is the first time a private expert has been appointed to the position of Green Transition Policy Officer at the Ministry of Environment, which is responsible for overseeing policies such as realizing a sustainable economy and society, fostering the environmental industry and developing technologies, promoting the purchase of green products, and expanding eco-friendly consumption.

Government headhunting is a customized talent discovery service where the Ministry of Personnel Management directly investigates and recommends outstanding private talents upon requests from various ministries and agencies to strengthen public service competitiveness. Since its introduction in 2015, a total of 67 private experts have been appointed. This is an active recruitment support method as part of government innovation, where the Ministry of Personnel Management directly discovers suitable private talents for open positions.

Policy Officer Jang has over 26 years of experience working at the Korea Environment Institute, possessing abundant experience and expertise in the environmental field, along with broad understanding and knowledge of carbon neutrality, fostering the environmental industry, and integrated environmental management systems. In particular, he has a strong commitment to environmental technology industrialization and understands the problems and specific improvement directions for fostering the environmental industry, making him a suitable candidate for the Green Transition Policy Officer position.

Minister of Environment Han Jeong-ae said, "Through the government private talent recruitment support system, we have discovered an outstanding private talent suitable for the Green Transition Policy Officer position," and added, "We expect to accelerate the establishment of a green industrial innovation ecosystem, including linking the vision of sustainable development with environmental economy and environmental research policy, and fostering green innovative companies."

Policy Officer Jang expressed his ambition, stating, "I will do my best to realize green values that improve energy and resource efficiency and the environment, together with economic values such as economic growth and job creation."