[Profile] Professor Joo Byungki Nominated as Fair Trade Commission Chair...Expert in Addressing Inequality

Joo Byungki, a professor at the Department of Economics at Seoul National University who has been nominated as the new chairperson of the Fair Trade Commission, is known for his expertise in distributive justice and addressing income inequality.

Born in 1969 in Jeongeup, North Jeolla Province, Professor Joo graduated from Moonil High School in Seoul and earned both his bachelor's and master's degrees in economics from Seoul National University. He later obtained his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Rochester in the United States. After serving at the University of Kansas, he is currently a professor at the Department of Economics at Seoul National University.

Although Professor Joo does not have extensive experience in public office, he has served as president of the Korean Association of Applied Economics and as a member of the Presidential National Economic Advisory Council.

He is widely regarded in academia as an expert who has consistently focused on issues related to income distribution and reducing inequality. He also served as the head of the Center for Distributive Justice at Seoul National University.

During the 2021 presidential election, he first became involved with the Democratic Party of Korea by joining "Politics That Changes the World (Sebajeong)," the policy advisory group led by Lee Hanjoo, then president of the Gyeonggi Research Institute and a policy advisor to President Lee Jaemyung. In the most recent presidential election, he chaired the Economics Division 2 of Sebajeong, overseeing the design of distribution policies.

On this day, Kang Hoonshik, Chief Presidential Secretary, explained at a briefing at the Yongsan Presidential Office, "Professor Joo is an expert in resolving income inequality, having served as head of the Center for Distributive Justice at Seoul National University. We believe he is the right person to carry out the national agenda of establishing a fair market order by addressing issues such as subcontracting, eradicating collusion, and eliminating unfair internal transactions."