Jung Jin-seok Presidential Office Chief Secretary Briefing
Yoo Sang-im, the new nominee for Minister of Science and ICT, is attending a personnel briefing held at the Presidential Office building in Yongsan, Seoul, on the 18th, and expressing his thoughts. [Image source=Yonhap News]
On the 18th, President Yoon Suk-yeol nominated Professor Yoo Sang-im of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Seoul National University as the Minister of Science and ICT, and appointed former People Power Party lawmaker Tae Young-ho as Secretary General of the National Unification Advisory Council. This is the first time a defector from North Korea has been appointed as Secretary General of the National Unification Advisory Council.
Jung Jin-seok, Chief Secretary to the President, announced this during a briefing at the Yongsan Presidential Office on the same day.
Candidate Yoo was born in 1959, graduated from the Department of Ceramic Engineering at Seoul National University, and earned a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Iowa State University in the United States. He has served as a professor at Seoul National University, president of the Korean Society of Superconductivity and Cryogenics, and president of the Korean Ceramic Society. He is the older brother of Yoo Sang-beom, a People Power Party lawmaker and the actor Yoo Oh-sung.
Chief Secretary Jung introduced him, saying, "Candidate Yoo worked at prestigious research institutes in the United States and Japan and has been a professor at Seoul National University since 1998. He has been active as president of the Ceramic Society and has communicated with the government, industry, and research sectors involved in R&D policy. Based on his research experience in science and technology, he is the right person to lead South Korea's science and technology policy during this major transformation of the advanced science and technology revolution."
In response to a reporter's question about the need for communication with the scientific community regarding the R&D budget, Candidate Yoo said in his nomination remarks, "R&D requires selection and concentration," adding, "I plan to utilize smooth communication functions to carefully examine with members of each institution what R&D budgets are truly necessary and address their appropriateness."
President Yoon also announced vice minister-level appointments on the same day. Former People Power Party lawmaker Tae Young-ho, appointed as Secretary General of the National Unification Advisory Council (vice minister-level), is a defector who worked as a diplomat at North Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs before defecting to South Korea. He was elected as a member of the 21st National Assembly and served on the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee. The Presidential Office explained, "Based on the candidate's vivid experience of the realities in North Korea and his expertise from serving on the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, he is the right person to support the establishment of peace unification policies based on liberal democracy and to garner domestic and international support."
Kim Sung-seop, Presidential Secretary for Small and Medium Venture Businesses, was appointed as Vice Minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, and Nam Hyung-gi, Director of National Administration at the Office for Government Policy Coordination, was appointed as the Second Vice Minister of the Office for Government Policy Coordination.
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