President Lee Jae-myung Govt. Inaugurates First Cabinet

President Lee Jae-myung poses with Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, Chmn. Lee Han-joo of the Presidential Committee of Policy Planning, Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik, Presidential Senior Secretary for National Security Wi Sung-lac, Presidential Senior Secretary for Policy Kim Yong-beom, National Intelligence Service Director Lee Jong-seok, and Yoon Chang-ryeol, chief of the Office for Government Policy Coordination in the Prime Minister's Office, at a ceremony to give a letter of appointment at the Presidential Office in Yongsan, Seoul, on July 4. (Photo on the courtesy of the Presidential Office)

The first cabinet of the President Lee Jae-myung government, which has declared the government of popular sovereignty, has been inaugurated following the end of parliamentary hearings.

President Lee government’s national agenda, prioritizing efficiency and stability, will be fully implemented as first Prime Minister Kim Min-seok and cabinet members under the President Lee government have taken office.

President Lee gave a letter of appointment to Prime Minister Kim, the first prime minister of the new government on July 3.

Earlier, the National Assembly approved Kim’s appointment to be prime minister following a parliamentary hearing.

In his Facebook account message following the parliamentary approval, Prime Minister Kim said, “I will uphold the will of the people as high as the sky, unravel the President's direction from the ground up and apply the wisdom of ruling and opposition lawmakers to state affairs.”

President Lee Jae-myung tapped Rep. Kim of the Democratic Party of Korea to be prime minister in his first appointment since his inauguration on June 4.

Announcing his appointment, the Presidential Official said in a briefing, “The government of popular sovereignty is making a fresh start with individuals with devotion to the people, a sense of responsibility, and strong capabilities.”

President Lee appointed Kang Hoon-sik, an ex-DPK spokesman, diplomat-turned-politician Wi Sung-lac and Lee Jong-seok, a former unification minister, to be presidential chief of staff, presidential senior secretary for national security and director of the National Intelligence Service.

(top row, from left) Deputy Prime Minister of Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yoon-cheol,; Foreign Minister Cho Hyun,; Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Kim Jung-kwan,; Presidential Senior Secretary for National Security Wi Sung-lac,; National Intelligence Service Director Lee Jong-seok,; Unification Minister Chung Dong-young and Environment Minister Kim Sung-hwan.

(below row, from left) Employment and Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon,; Oceans and Fisheries Minister Chun Jae-soo,; Science and ICT Minister Bae Kyung-hoon,; Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Minister Song Mi-ryung,; SMEs and Startups Minister Han Seong-sook,; Land, Infrastructure and Transportation Minister Kim Yoon-duk,; and Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Chae Hwi-young.

President Lee Jae-myung poses with new cabinet members and Chmn. Kim Kyung-soo of the Presidential Committee for Decentralization and Balanced Development, including Deputy Prime Minister-MOEF Minister Koo Yoon-cheol, MSIT Minster Bae Kyung-hoon, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, Justice Minister Chung Sung-ho, Interior and Safety Minister Yoon Ho-joong, MOHW Minister Jeong Eun-kyeong, Environment Minister Kim Sung-hwan and MOEL Minister Kim Young-hoon, and their family at a ceremony to give a letter of appointment at the Presidential Office in Yongsan, Seoul, on July 23. (Photo on the courtesy of the Presidential Office)

President Lee tapped Koo Yoon-cheol, a professor of special assignment at Seoul National University Economics Department, to be deputy prime minister and minister of economy and finance.

Rep. Jung Sung-ho and Rep. Yoon Ho-joong, DPK lawmakers, were appointed to be justice minister and minister of interior and safety, respectively.

The deputy prime minister and MOEF minister is a seasoned economic bureaucrat who served as senior presidential secretary under former President Roh Moo-hyun, as well as MOEF’s deputy minister for budget planning, and second vice minister.

He was also the longest-standing minister for government policy coordination under the ex-president Moon Jae-in government.

President Lee tapped Kim Jung-kwan, now president of Doosan Enerbility, and Jeong Eun-kyeong, former chief of Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, to be minster of trade, industry and energy and minster of health and welfare, respectively.

The MOTIE minister was a high-ranking MOEF official with stints in key positions, such as the International Finance Bureau and Economic Policy Bureau and a dispatched official to the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) in Washington. President Lee tapped minister-nominees of 11 ministries on June 23.

The President nominated Rep. Ahn Gyu-back, a multi-term DPK lawmaker, to be Korea’s first non-military defense minister.

President Lee nominated Rep. Jung Dong-young, a journalist-turned DPK lawmaker, and Cho Hyun, a former foreign vice minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as unification minister and foreign minister, respectively.

Foreign Minister Cho served as both the first and second vice ministers under the ex-president Moon Jae-in government before serving as the Korean ambassador to the United Nations from 2019-2022.

President Lee nominated Bae Kyung-hoon, president of LG AI Research Institute, and Kwon Oh-eul, a former lawmaker, to become science and ICT minister and patriots and veterans affairs minister, respectively.

Bae spent his career working on AI projects in private sector research labs, including at Samsung-Thales, SK Telecom, LG Business Research, and LG Electronics.

At LG, he led the development of EXAONE, a family of generative AI models.

Presidential Chief of Staff Kang said, “MSIT Minister-nominee Bae, an AI scholar and a businessman, is a call-in expert designed to realize the goal of becoming the world’s top three AI powerhouse, and we expect him to raise the nation’s AI competitiveness together with Ha Jung-woo, presidential senior secretary for AI future planning.”

President Lee appointed Rep. Kim Sung-hwan of the Democratic Party of Korea and Rep. Chun Jae-soo, also a DPK member, to become environment minister and oceans and fisheries minister, respectively.

Han Seong-sook, a Naver adviser, and former chairman Kim Young-hoon of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions were appointed to become SMEs and startups minister and labor minister.

Han, 58, entered Empas, a local web search engine and web portal, as a founding member, and she moved to NHN, a predecessor of online portal giant Naver Corp., where she played a leading role in transforming the company into Korea's top internet platform.

In 2017, Han was appointed Naver’s first female CEO.

President Lee retained Minister Song Mi-ryung of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the sole cabinet member of the previous government.

President Lee tapped Rep. Kim Yoon-duk pf the Democratic Party of Korea and Chae Hwi-young, CEO of Nol Universe, a travel platform of the country’s top travel booking service operator Yanolja Co., as land, infrastructure and transportation minister-nominee and culture, sports and tourism minister-nominee, respectively, completing the nomination of his government’s first cabinet lineups.