Cho Yongbeom Appointed as First Head of Budget Office at New Ministry of Planning and Budget; Cho Manhee to Lead Tax Policy Office

Second Senior-Level Appointment at the Ministry of Economy and Finance
Since President Lee Took Office

The Ministry of Economy and Finance has conducted personnel appointments for the heads of the Budget Office and the Tax Policy Office ahead of an upcoming organizational split.

On December 16, the Ministry of Economy and Finance announced that Cho Yongbeom, Director General for Budget Coordination (age 54), will be appointed as the new Head of the Budget Office. Cho, a native of Jeju, graduated from Jeju National University High School and Seoul National University’s Department of Law. He entered public service in 1995 after passing the 39th Higher Civil Service Examination. This marks the first time that someone from Jeju has been appointed as Head of the Budget Office.

He has previously served as Director of Budget Standards, Director of Administrative Budget, Director of Land and Transport Budget, Director of Agriculture, Forestry, and Maritime Budget, and Director of Budget Policy at the Ministry of Economy and Finance. He has also worked as the ministry’s spokesperson and as Director General for Social Budget, served as a Senior Specialist at the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) in Japan, and was seconded to the Presidential Office. Additionally, in a survey conducted by the ministry’s labor union among staff, he was selected as the “manager people want to emulate” for three consecutive years (2013, 2014, and 2015) during his tenure as director.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance is scheduled to be split into the Ministry of Finance and Economy and the Ministry of Planning and Budget on January 2 next year. Accordingly, Cho will move to the Ministry of Planning and Budget, where he will serve as the first Head of the Budget Office appointed under the Lee Jaemyung administration, overseeing the management of the national budget, which has increased to 727.9 trillion won (based on the total expenditure of the 2026 main budget).

Meanwhile, the ministry has appointed Cho Manhee, Director General for Tax Policy (age 56), as the new Head of the Tax Policy Office.

Cho, the new Head of the Tax Policy Office, is from Yeongju, North Gyeongsang Province. He graduated from Yeongju High School and Seoul National University’s Department of Business Administration, and entered public service in 1996 after passing the 40th Higher Civil Service Examination. He has served as Director of Property Tax at Gyeongsan Tax Office, Director of Tax Source Management 1 at Yangcheon Tax Office in Seoul, and Director of Investigation 2 at Seocho Tax Office. He has held key positions in the Tax Policy Office, including Team Leader for Tax Law Reform, Team Leader for Real Estate, Director of Property Tax, Director of Tax Analysis, Director of Financial Taxation, Director of Corporate Taxation, Director of Tax Incentives, Director of Tax Policy, and Director General for Income and Corporate Tax Policy. He has also been seconded to the Korea Economic Institute (KEI) in the United States, the World Customs Organization (WCO) in Belgium, and the Presidential Committee on Income-Led Growth.

Cho will continue his work as Head of the Tax Policy Office at the Ministry of Finance and Economy, led by Deputy Prime Minister Koo Yooncheol, who currently serves concurrently as Minister of Economy and Finance, after the ministry is split into the Ministry of Finance and Economy and the Ministry of Planning and Budget.