President Moon names new chief of Korea Coast Guard

President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday named the new head of the Korea Coast Guard, only hours after the agency was reinstated as an independent organization following three years of control by the public safety ministry.

Park Kyung-min, a ranking police official and former spokesman of the National Police Agency, was appointed the new head of the maritime police agency, the presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae, said in a press release.

The new Korea Coast Guard was launched earlier in the day, nearly three years after it was placed under the now-defunct Ministry of Public Safety and Security as a clear punishment for its failure to prevent or handle the tragic sinking of the Sewol ferry in April 2014.

The latest personnel reshuffle involved three other vice ministerial posts.

Sung Yun-mo, a former official of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, was named the new head of the Korean Intellectual Property Office.

Choi Su-gyu, an official from the former Small and Medium-sized Business Administration, has been appointed the new vice minister of the administration that has been upgraded to a full ministry, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.

Jeong Eun-kyeong was named the new head of the Korea Centers for Disease Control, a vice ministerial post under the leadership of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, according to Cheong Wa Dae. (Yonhap)