[Profile] Seungdon Lee, New Rural Development Administration Chief with 30 Years of Agricultural Research... First Internal Appointment in 7 Years

Seungdon Lee New Commissioner of Rural Development Administration

Seungdon Lee, who was appointed as the new Commissioner of the Rural Development Administration on August 13, is an expert who has dedicated 30 years to agricultural research. Commissioner Lee began his public service career after passing the open recruitment exam for agricultural researchers. It has been seven years since an internal candidate was appointed as Commissioner, with the last being Ra Seungyong (July 17, 2017-December 14, 2018).

Commissioner Lee is a native of Jeju, and graduated from Jeju Jeil High School and the Department of Plant Pathology at Seoul National University. He also earned both his master's and doctoral degrees from the same university.

He entered public service in 1995, and has served as Director of Planning and Coordination at the National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Director of Research Policy at the Rural Development Administration, and Director General of the National Institute of Agricultural Sciences.

The Office of the President stated, "Since Commissioner Lee joined the Rural Development Administration as an agricultural researcher and has held major positions, gaining diverse experience in both research and policy, he is expected to contribute to the future of agricultural policy, including AI-based agriculture."