Lee Jae-myung, the president, appointed Choi Hwi-young, the representative of Naver's subsidiary, as the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism on the 11th, and Kim Yun-deok, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, as the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. With this, the appointment of ministers across 19 ministries in the Lee Jae-myung administration has been completed. Including Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, there are a total of 9 members from the current National Assembly in the inaugural cabinet of the new government.
◇Newly appointed Shin Myung, who oversaw party finances and led nominations for the 22nd general election
Kang Hoon, the head of the presidential secretariat, announced these appointments during a briefing at the Yongsan Presidential Office. Kim is a three-term veteran representative from Jeonju in North Jeolla Province, serving as the Secretary General of the Democratic Party, overseeing party finances. In the 2022 presidential election, he oversaw the organization headquarters for then-candidate Lee Jae-myung, and after the election defeat, he held key party positions under the ‘Lee Jae-myung party leadership system’ as a core supporter of Lee.
In particular, he served as the Deputy Secretary General of the Organization Department responsible for nomination operations ahead of last year's 22nd general election. It was also a time when he attracted attention as a so-called new supporter of Lee Jae-myung. Ultimately, he helped the Democratic Party become the largest party in the National Assembly with 170 seats. Last month, he was appointed as the party's Secretary General, setting a record for the first 'five-term Secretary General' in the history of the Democratic Party. He is regarded as a figure who has overseen the party's finances and organization for a long time.
◇Following Ha Jung-woo and Han Seong-suk, attention on 'Naver alumni' appointed quickly
Choi has held positions as a reporter for Yonhap News and YTN, and served as CEO of NHN and Interpark Triple. He is regarded as a key figure who led Naver during its growth period in the 2000s. After serving as CEO of NHN (now Naver) and CEO of NHN Business Platform (now Naver Cloud), he co-founded the travel platform Triple in 2016 with Kim Yeon-jeong.
With this appointment, the number of 'Naver alumni' selected by the Lee Jae-myung administration has increased to 3. The president previously appointed Ha Jung-woo, former head of Naver Cloud's AI Innovation Center, as the Chief of the newly established Office of Artificial Intelligence Planning. Additionally, he nominated Han Seong-suk, who was Naver's first female CEO, as the Minister of Small and Medium Venture Business.
Kang noted about Choi, "He possesses diverse experiences and expertise as a representative of an online portal and founder of a travel platform," indicating that he would be a new CEO who turns the president's vision of opening a K-Culture market worth 300 trillion won into reality based on expertise and freshness from the private sector. Regarding Kim, he said, "He has demonstrated legislative and policy capabilities while serving as a member of the National Land Committee," adding that he could approach real estate issues from the perspective of the public rather than as an academic or bureaucrat.