Yoon picks Park Jin as foreign minister in second round of Cabinet choices

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol tapped eight new minister nominees for his Cabinet and a chief of staff on Wednesday, following his first eight nominations Sunday.

For foreign minister, Yoon named four-term Rep. Park Jin of the People Power Party, who led his policy consultation delegation to Washington.

Park is a diplomacy expert who started his career by passing the state’s foreign service exam in 1977.

He served as the press secretary for foreign media at the presidential office for late former President Kim Young-sam in 1993, and also has served as the chief and a member of the parliamentary committee for foreign affairs and unification.

Park was not present at the announcement, along with other nominees, because he tested positive for COVID-19 following his US trip.

Yoon’s surprise pick for Justice Minister was Han Dong-hoon, a senior prosecutor and the president-elect’s close associate.

Han, currently vice president of the Judicial Research and Training Institute, conducted special probes into former Presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye.

Tapping Han to the post is seen as an exceptional move, as he is junior to other top officials in the justice system, such as Prosecutor General Kim Oh-soo, among other reasons. Kim is seven years senior to Han.

But Yoon denied that it is not an “exceptional nomination,” citing Han’s work experience.

According to Yoon, Han is experienced not only in law enforcement, but also in judicial administration, as he had served in major posts at the Justice Ministry and the prosecution for the past 20 years. This is important because his government plans to “modernize” that part of the judiciary, Yoon said.

“Han is also fluent in English and has various international work experiences. So I have asked him to modernize the administration of the judiciary, that meets the global standard, and also support economic development,” Yoon said during the press briefing.

For unification minister, Yoon tapped four-term Rep. Kwon Young-se of the People Power Party, who is currently serving as the vice chairman of the presidential transition committee.

Kwon, a prosecutor-turned-lawmaker, is a close aide who has maintained personal relations with Yoon since university, and was the chief of Yoon’s presidential campaign team. Rep. Kwon served as the ambassador to China from 2013 to 2015 for then-President Park.

For deputy prime minister and education minister, former Hankuk University of Foreign Studies President Kim In-chul was named as the nominee. Kim served as the university president for eight years, and also headed the Korea Council for University Education.

Han Hwa-jin, an emeritus researcher at Korea Environment Institute, was nominated to head the Environment Ministry. Han has been working at the KEI as a researcher for 30 years and served as the presidential secretary for the environment in 2009.

For minister of interior and safety, Lee Sang-min, former vice chief of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, was nominated.

Yoon’s picks of nonpolitical nominees for the Justice and Interior ministries follows his principles to not bring many sitting lawmakers into his Cabinet.

Not only did Yoon find it risky to remove more lawmakers from the People Power Party, of which he is a member, as the majority of seats are taken by the Democratic Party of Korea, but Yoon also considered it as necessary with regional elections slated for June 1.

Yoon also tapped Cho Seung-hwan, former head of the Korea Institute of Marine Science and Technology Promotion, for minister of oceans and fisheries, and Rep. Lee Young of the People Power Party for minister of SMEs and startups.

On Wednesday, Yoon also announced the first chief of staff nominee, tapping Kim Dae-ki, who served the same position for the late President Roh Moo-hyun.

Earlier in the day before the press briefing, Yoon had reiterated his criteria for the Cabinet appointment is based on the figures’ talent and fine personality and “whether they would be able to serve the people properly.”

In meeting with former President Park on Tuesday, Yoon told her that he had “looked into how former President Park Chung-hee operated the Cabinet and the presidential office,” according to Yoo Young-ha, Park’s confidant, who presided over the meeting.

Late ex-President and dictator Park Chung-hee is Park Geun-hye’s father.

The Cabinet members nominated by the president-elect on Wednesday are subject to parliamentary confirmation hearings, though the appointment can still be finalized if the president presses on.

Prime minister is the only Cabinet post that requires parliamentary confirmation.

By Jo He-rim (herim@heraldcorp.com)