Yoon's Recent Minister and Vice Minister Appointments Include Not Only 'Women' but Also 'Legal and Institutional Experts'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] Among the recent appointments of ministerial and vice-ministerial positions by President Yoon Suk-yeol, a major characteristic is the selection of 'women,' and it is also noteworthy that most of them are 'experts in law and systems.' While past administrations mainly considered civic groups and political appointees to fulfill female quotas in high-ranking officials, President Yoon, who comes from a legal background, is evaluated to have made appointments based on 'understanding of law and systems' capable of practically leading ministries and agencies.

On the 29th, the Presidential Office announced that President Yoon Suk-yeol has nominated Lee In-sil, president of the Korea Women Inventors Association (patent attorney), as the new Commissioner of the Korean Intellectual Property Office (vice-ministerial level). Lee, a graduate of Busan National University’s Department of French Language and Literature, is a patent attorney well-versed in both practical and theoretical aspects of intellectual property. In 1985, she became the third woman in Korea to pass the patent attorney exam. From the year she passed the exam until 1994, she worked for Kim & Chang Law Firm for ten years, and since 1996, she has been serving as the representative patent attorney at Cheongun International Patent Law Firm.

She notably served as president of the Korean Association of the International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys and has been active internationally in the field of patent rights. She also served as president of the Business and Professional Women (BPW) Korea Federation, striving to expand women's participation in economic activities.

Like Lee In-sil’s case, recent ministerial and vice-ministerial appointments by President Yoon are seen as a departure from the previous tendency toward Seo-O-Nam (Seoul National University, 50s, male) dominance. Besides the fact that all new appointees are women, a commonality is that they are experts well-versed in 'law and systems.'

Park Soon-ae, nominated as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, and Kim Seung-hee, nominated as Minister of Health and Welfare, are also evaluated as female figures with expertise in legislation.

Park, a professor at Seoul National University’s Graduate School of Public Administration, has not only been active in the education field but is also a public administration expert who served as head of the Public Institution Management Evaluation Group under the Ministry of Strategy and Finance in 2017. She has held various advisory roles, including policy advisory member for the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development in 2005, policy quality management advisory member for the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education in 2007, and member of the Education-related Institutions Information Disclosure Operation Committee under the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology in 2010. Park was recognized for her experience and participated as a member of the Political, Judicial, and Administrative Subcommittee of the 20th Presidential Transition Committee.

Kim is regarded as an authority not only in health and medical fields but also in related legislative areas. She graduated from Seoul National University College of Pharmacy, earned a master's degree from the same university’s graduate school, and obtained a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Notre Dame in the United States. Starting as a general toxicologist and health researcher at the National Institute of Health and Safety in 1988, she later served as director of the Food and Drug Safety Evaluation Institute and commissioner of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.

Kim began her political career in 2016 as a proportional representative member of the Saenuri Party. She served on the Saenuri Party’s Special Committee on Livelihood Issues, was floor deputy leader of the Liberty Korea Party in 2017, and secretary of the Wuhan Pneumonia Countermeasures Task Force of the United Future Party in 2020. During the 20th National Assembly, she also served as secretary of the Health and Welfare Committee. Since July 2020, she has been an advisor at the law firm Class, providing legislative support and legal consulting in bio, pharmaceutical, and healthcare sectors, as well as administrative litigation.

When asked whether President Yoon considered the fact that the new appointees are women and experts in law and systems, a presidential office official said, "President Yoon did not select law and system experts simply because he is from a legal background, but ministerial and vice-ministerial appointments must be experts who understand law and systems." The official added, "(President Yoon) tried to select capable individuals among female personnel whose abilities have been verified."