President Lee Jae-myung nominated Choi Hwiyoung, the representative of Nol Universe, as Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism on the 11th.
Ministerial candidate Choi is a corporate leader with experience across journalism, IT companies, and the travel and cultural content industry.
Choi, who graduated from Sogang University's Department of English Language and Literature, worked at Yonhap News and YTN before starting at Yahoo Korea in 2000. In 2002, he moved to NHN, serving as chief planning officer of the Naver headquarters before becoming the CEO.
Afterward, Choi founded the travel platform Tripple in 2016 and served as CEO of Interpark after 2022; he is currently the CEO of Nol Universe. Nol Universe is a comprehensive platform corporation selling travel, leisure, and cultural products, formed through the merger of Yanolja Platform and Interpark Tripple, subsidiaries of Yanolja Group.
Kang Hoon, head of the presidential office, said, "Choi Hwiyoung has a diverse background with experience as a reporter, an online portal representative, and a travel platform founder," adding, "He will be a new CEO in the field of culture and sports to turn the president's vision of opening the K-culture market worth 300 trillion won into reality, based on his expertise and freshness from the private sector."