On the 29th, President Lee Jae-myung nominates former Chungnam National University President Lee Jin-sook as the new Minister of Education /Courtesy of Yonhap News.

President Lee Jae-myung nominated former Chungnam National University President Lee Jin-sook as the new government's first Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education on the 29th.

The nominee was elected as the first female president in the 68-year history of Chungnam National University in 2020. It is anticipated that the Lee Jae-myung administration will focus on local balanced development by taking charge of the pledge to ‘create 10 Seoul National Universities’ to foster local universities.

He was born in Daejeon in 1960, graduated from Daejeon Girls' High School and the Department of Architectural Engineering at Chungnam National University, and obtained a master's degree from the same university and a doctorate from Tokyo Institute of Technology in Japan. He has served as a professor in the Department of Architectural Engineering at Chungnam National University since 1989 and held key positions such as head of the Department of Architectural Engineering, head of the Department of Architecture, head of the International Exchange Headquarters, chair of the Women Professors Association, dean of the Graduate School of Industry, and dean of the College of Engineering. He served as the 19th president of Chungnam National University from 2020 to 2024.

He was also actively involved as a commissioner in the presidential commission and various government committees. In the last presidential election, he served as the chairperson of the ‘Committee for Creating 10 Seoul National Universities’ within the Democratic Party of Korea's Central Election Countermeasure Committee.

The nominee stated before the presidential election on the 29th of last month, "I joined the campaign after resonating with candidate Lee Jae-myung's pledge for regional balanced development, especially the education pledge," and added, "Creating 10 Seoul National Universities is a strategy to change the educational framework and achieve balanced development in the regions."

The Lee Jae-myung administration's pledge to create 10 Seoul National Universities focuses on concentrated investment and development of nine national university hubs across the country. The aim is to elevate the educational conditions of these nine national universities to the level of Seoul National University, thereby resolving the educational imbalance centered around the capital region and enabling access to an education comparable to Seoul National University in local areas. It is reported that the Democratic Party of Korea estimates that over 3 trillion won in annual budget investments will be necessary for this pledge. The individual who proposed this pledge to the Democratic Party is believed to be the nominee.

Kang Hoon, the presidential secretary, introduced the nominee, saying, "She is the first female president from Chungnam National University, her alma mater," and added, "She will work hard to nurture future talent and achieve balanced national educational development."

▲ From Daejeon (65 years old) ▲ Daejeon Girls' High School ▲ Bachelor's in Architectural Engineering and Master's in Architectural Planning from Chungnam National University ▲ PhD in Architectural Environmental Planning from Tokyo Institute of Technology Graduate School ▲ Professor in the Department of Architectural Engineering at Chungnam National University ▲ Commissioner of the Presidential Commission on Architecture Policy ▲ Dean of the College of Engineering at Chungnam National University ▲ President of Chungnam National University ▲ Chairperson of the National Council of Presidents of National and Public Universities ▲ Current commissioner of the Presidential Advisory Council on Science & Technology.