Yoon Approves Appointments of Park Soon-ae and Kim Seung-gyeom... Song Ok-ryul Nominated as Fair Trade Commission Chairman Candidate

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] On the 4th, President Yoon Seok-yeol approved the appointments of Park Soon-ae as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, and Kim Seung-gyeom as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Additionally, President Yoon nominated Professor Song Ok-ryeol of Seoul National University School of Law, a classmate from the 23rd Judicial Research and Training Institute, as the candidate for Chairman of the Fair Trade Commission.

The presidential spokesperson's office stated that President Yoon made these appointments around noon on the same day, shortly after Kim Seung-hee, the nominee for Minister of Health and Welfare, announced her voluntary withdrawal.

Both Deputy Prime Minister Park and Chairman Kim were appointed without confirmation hearings amid a parliamentary vacancy caused by delays in negotiations over the formation of committees. This is the second appointment without a hearing since the new administration, following Kim Chang-gi, the Commissioner of the National Tax Service.

Earlier, on the 23rd, before President Yoon's visit to Spain to attend the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit, he collectively requested the National Assembly to resend the confirmation hearing reports for nominee Kim, Deputy Prime Minister Park, and Chairman Kim.

However, after nominee Kim, who was under prosecution investigation for alleged violations of the Political Funds Act, ultimately withdrew voluntarily and was dropped on the same day, it appears that the president promptly proceeded with the appointments of the remaining two.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Professor Song, an authority in commercial law and appointed as Chairman of the Fair Trade Commission, is a classmate of President Yoon from the Judicial Research and Training Institute and is known as a "triple crown winner" for passing the 36th Administrative Examination and the 27th Foreign Service Examination during his training period. He has also voiced criticism when the Fair Trade Commission strengthened regulations on internal transactions within the business community.

Initially, Kang Soo-jin, a female legal professional from Korea University Law School, was considered a strong candidate for the first chairman of the Fair Trade Commission under the Yoon administration, but ultimately Professor Song was selected.

On the same day, President Yoon also requested the National Assembly to send the confirmation hearing report for nominee Kim Joo-hyun, Chairman of the Financial Services Commission. The deadline for submission is five days, until the 8th.