Kang Do-tae, NHIS President, Steps Down with 1 Year and 10 Months Remaining in Term

Kang Do-tae, President of the National Health Insurance Service.

Kang Do-tae, the chairman of the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS), will step down on the 6th, with 1 year and 10 months remaining in his term.

According to the NHIS, Chairman Kang recently expressed his intention to resign, and following President Yoon Seok-yeol's approval, he is scheduled to leave his position on this day. Chairman Kang was appointed as NHIS chairman in December 2021, near the end of the previous administration, after serving as Director General of the Health Insurance Policy Bureau, Director General of the Health and Medical Policy Office, Director General of the Planning and Coordination Office, and Second Vice Minister at the Ministry of Health and Welfare. His original term was set to expire in December next year.

Chairman Kang's resignation comes amid the current administration's announcement of strong reform intentions toward the so-called 'Moon Jae-in Care' and measures to enhance fiscal soundness. Analysts suggest that the resignation was influenced by pressure on public institution heads appointed by the previous administration to step down, either directly or indirectly, as well as incidents such as the embezzlement of 4.6 billion KRW by NHIS employees last year.

This is the second case of a head of a Ministry of Health and Welfare-affiliated institution appointed by the previous government stepping down before completing their term. Earlier, Kim Yong-jin, former chairman of the National Pension Service, resigned in April last year with 1 year and 4 months remaining in his term. In the case of the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, Director Kim Seon-min's term ends next month, and the recruitment process for a new director is underway.