[Profile] Lee Hyungil, First Vice Minister of Economy and Finance... Leading Economic Policy Expert

Lee Hyungil, the newly appointed First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, is regarded within the ministry as one of the leading experts in economic policy.

Yonhap News Agency

Born in 1971, Vice Minister Lee graduated from Gyeongsang High School in Daegu and the Department of Economics at Seoul National University. He entered public service through the 36th Higher Civil Service Examination. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Texas A&M University in the United States.

Within the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Vice Minister Lee has held all key positions in the Economic Policy Bureau, including Director of the Comprehensive Policy Division, Director of the Economic Analysis Division, and Director of the Money Market Division.

In 2021, he served as Assistant Minister at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, and during the Moon Jaein administration, he worked at the Blue House as Secretary for Economic Policy in the Office of the Senior Secretary for Economic Affairs. At that time, he contributed to the development of concrete policies for the Moon administration’s core economic strategies, including Innovation-led Growth and the Korean New Deal. After the inauguration of the Yoon Sukyeol administration, he returned to the position of Assistant Minister and was appointed Commissioner of Statistics Korea in 2023.

Vice Minister Lee is considered the right person to design the policy framework for the Lee Jaemyung administration, which aims to stimulate economic vitality through expansionary fiscal policy, given his experience in shaping major economic policy directions.

He is also recognized for his warm leadership within the organization and is highly trusted. In addition, he was selected three times as the "Role Model Supervisor" in an annual vote by ministry staff, earning a place in the Hall of Fame.