Park Bum-gye (from left), a candidate for the Minister of Justice, a candidate for the Minister of Environment Han Jeong-ae, and a candidate for the Minister of National Veterans Affairs Hwang Ki-cheol. Photo courtesy of the Blue House
On the 30th, President Moon Jae-in appointed Democratic Party member Park Bum-gye to the new Minister of Justice. Democratic Party lawmaker Han Jeong-ae was appointed as the Minister of Environment, and former Naval Chief of Staff Hwang Ki-cheol was appointed as the head of the Veterans Affairs Office.
Chung Man-ho, chief of public communication at the Blue House, said on the same day that President Moon Jae-in gave ministerial personnel to the three ministries.
Candidate Park, a former judge and a third-tier lawmaker, is a graduate of Yonsei University’s law department, and is a member of Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol and the 23rd class member of the Judicial Research and Training Institute. In 2002, former President Roh Moo-hyun entered politics as a legal advisory, and worked as a second secretary for civil affairs and a legal secretary in the participatory government of the Blue House. In the 21st National Assembly, he has been a member of the Legislative Judicial Council.
One candidate was a labor activist and a third-tier lawmaker who graduated from the Department of Environmental Engineering at Pusan National University, received a master’s degree from the same graduate school, and then obtained a doctorate in industrial engineering from Nottingham University in England. He served as the Chairman of the Democratic Party Policy Committee, secretary of the Environmental and Labor Committee of the National Assembly, and co-representative of the Climate Change Forum of the National Assembly.
Former Naval Chief of Staff Hwang Ki-cheol, who was born in the 32nd Naval Academy, served as the commander of the 2nd Fleet and the commander of operations. It is also known that he commanded the Dawning Operation in the Gulf of Aden, supported children in the navy, and compensated for the victims of defoliants. Since retirement, he has served as a Chair Professor at the Graduate School of Business at Kookmin University and Chairman of the Special Committee on Defense and Security of the Democratic Party. The Blue House selected “excellent leadership and understanding of veteran policy, strong sense of mission and strong momentum as a soldier” as strengths.
Candidates for the Minister of Justice and Minister of Environment are scheduled to be appointed as members of the State Council through a personnel hearing of the National Assembly, and the Minister of National Veterans Affairs will be appointed on the 31st.
A high-ranking official at the Blue House said, “It is a personnel for creating results in the second half of the rule and for a stable finish,” and “all three of them are one homeowners.” Regarding candidate Park’s motives for Yoon and the training institute, he said, “I looked at the details of my activities rather than being born or personal. He said, “I have a career as a secretary of the National Assembly Judiciary Committee or a Special Committee on Judicial Reform of the National Assembly, and I am well aware of the circumstances of the Ministry of Justice and the prosecution.
He said, “Minister Choo Mi-ae will fulfill his duties in accordance with the usual procedures until a new candidate is appointed through a personnel hearing.”
Reporter Lee Byung-jun [email protected]