Eokwon Lee, Nominee for Chairman of the Financial Services Commission
Eokwon Lee, former First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, who has been nominated as the first Chairman of the Financial Services Commission under the Lee Jaemyung administration, is regarded as a traditional bureaucrat with outstanding expertise in macroeconomics and economic policy.
Born in 1967, Lee graduated from Kyungshin High School in Seoul and earned a degree in economics from Seoul National University. He later received a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Missouri in the United States.
After passing the 35th Higher Civil Service Examination in 1991, he began his public service career and held key positions at the Ministry of Finance and Economy (now the Ministry of Economy and Finance), including Director General of Economic Policy and Director General of Economic Structural Reform. He was especially known as an expert in economic policy, having accumulated extensive hands-on experience during his long tenure in the Economic Policy Bureau.
In 2019, while serving as Director General of Economic Policy, Lee was credited with successfully leading the government’s response to Japan’s export restrictions on semiconductor-related materials, which had deepened trade tensions between the two countries.
He also served as Minister-Counselor at the Permanent Mission of Korea to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Geneva, as well as Chair of the WTO Working Party on Domestic Regulation.
In May 2020, he was appointed Economic Policy Secretary at the Presidential Office, and in March 2021, he became the First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance. After leaving public office, he served as an invited research fellow at the Korea Institute of Finance and as a distinguished professor at the Department of Economics at Seoul National University.
Profile
▲Born in 1967 ▲Kyungshin High School, Seoul ▲Department of Economics, Seoul National University ▲Ph.D. in Economics, University of Missouri, USA ▲35th Higher Civil Service Examination ▲Director General of Economic Policy, Ministry of Economy and Finance ▲Director General of Economic Structural Reform, Ministry of Economy and Finance ▲Minister-Counselor, Permanent Mission of Korea to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Geneva ▲Chair, WTO Working Party on Domestic Regulation ▲Economic Policy Secretary, Presidential Office ▲First Vice Minister, Ministry of Economy and Finance ▲Current Distinguished Professor, Department of Economics, Seoul National University ▲Current Invited Research Fellow, Korea Institute of Finance
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
