Yoon Awards Appointment Letter to Kim Young-ho as Minister of Unification One Month After Naming (Comprehensive)

15th Cabinet Member Appointed Despite 'Unadopted Hearing Report'

President Yoon Suk-yeol presented the appointment letter to the new Minister of Unification, Kim Young-ho, on the 28th.

On the afternoon of the same day, President Yoon gave the appointment letter to Minister Kim at the Freedom Hall on the 2nd floor of the Yongsan Presidential Office, took commemorative photos, and then held a private meeting with his aides.

Attending the appointment ceremony were Chief Secretary Kim Dae-gi, National Security Office Director Cho Tae-yong, Chief Public Relations Officer Kim Eun-hye, Personnel Planning Officer Bok Doo-gyu, Protocol Secretary Kim Seung-hee, Unification Secretary Kim Soo-kyung, and Spokesperson Lee Do-woon.

Earlier, on the 29th of last month, President Yoon nominated Professor Kim, a political science and diplomacy professor at Sungshin Women's University, as the second Minister of Unification under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

When the National Assembly did not adopt the confirmation hearing report for candidate Kim on the 24th, President Yoon set a deadline of the 27th to request resubmission, but it ultimately failed.

The ruling party, the People Power Party, tried to persuade the opposition to adopt a confirmation hearing report that included all parties' positions for and against candidate Kim, but the Democratic Party opposed cooperating with the appointment process, citing Kim's "extreme right-wing North Korea policy" and "insufficient submission of materials."

Accordingly, President Yoon approved Minister Kim's appointment on the morning of the day the resubmission deadline passed. According to the Confirmation Hearing Act, the president can request resubmission from the National Assembly within a 10-day period, and if the confirmation hearing report is not submitted within this period, the president may appoint the minister from the following day.

Minister Kim became the 15th high-ranking official at the ministerial level to be appointed without a confirmation hearing report adopted by the National Assembly under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration. Minister of Unification Kwon Young-se held his farewell ceremony and stepped down on the same day.