President Lee Jae-myung appointed Vice Commissioner Lee Myung-koo (56) as the Commissioner of the Korea Customs Service on the 13th.
The new Administrator was born in 1969 and is from Miryang, Gyeongnam. He graduated from Miryang High School and Seoul National University with a degree in business administration, and earned a master's degree in public administration from Seoul National University and a doctoral degree in economics from the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom.
He began his public service as part of the 36th administrative examination and served as the head of the Seoul Customs Service and Busan Customs Service. Following Sang Yoon-gap (22nd), Cheon Hong-wook (28th), and Noh Seok-hwan (30th) in 2005, 2016, and 2020, respectively, this marks the fourth time an internal appointment within the Korea Customs Service has ascended to the Commissioner position. The Commissioner of the Korea Customs Service has typically been appointed from the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
While serving as the head of the Seoul Customs Service in 2020, he permitted the sale of long-term inventory to support duty-free shops struggling due to COVID-19. During that time, luxury brand duty-free shop inventory items were offered at discounts of up to 50%, which led to the duty-free shop servers crashing due to the overwhelming response.
He later went to the Office for Government Policy Coordination to serve as a standing judge and then returned to the Korea Customs Service to serve as Vice Commissioner. Presidential Spokesperson Kang Yu-jung described this Administrator as someone who has combined practical experience and theory, having held major positions within the Korea Customs Service and served as president of the Korea Customs Forum.
▲1969 ▲Miryang, Gyeongnam ▲Miryang High School ▲Seoul National University, business administration ▲Seoul National University, master's in public administration ▲University of Birmingham, Ph.D. in economics ▲36th administrative examination ▲Korea Customs Service, head of the Seoul Customs Service ▲Korea Customs Service, head of the Busan Customs Service ▲Office for Government Policy Coordination, standing judge ▲Korea Customs Service, Vice Commissioner