SEOUL: President Moon Jae-in nominated four more new ministers Tuesday, bringing to 16 the total number of new Cabinet members he has named since his inauguration last month.
You Young-min, a former executive of LG Electronics and head of POSCO Research Institute, has been named the new minister of science, ICT and future planning.
Cho Myoung-gyun, a former official from the unification ministry who served as a secretary to the late former President Roh Moo-hyun, has been named the new unification minister, the point man on North Korea, according to Park Soo-hyun, spokesman for the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae.
Kim Yung-rok, a former lawmaker of the ruling Democratic Party, has been tapped as the new agriculture minister.
Chung Hyun-back, a professor of history and women's rights activist currently serving as the head of a municipal committee on gender equality, has been named the new minister of gender equality, the Cheong Wa Dae spokesman told a press briefing.
With the four new minister-nominees, the president has now named 16 new members of the Cabinet, about one month after he came into office on May 10.
However, only two of them have been appointed so far amid strong objections from opposition parties against some of his earlier picks.
Foreign Minister-nominee Kang Kyung-wha underwent her confirmation hearing last week, but the opposition parties, led by the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, are refusing to endorse the former UN official as the country's top diplomat, citing her past wrongdoings that include a false registration of address for her daughter.
False registration of address is a crime punishable by a fine of less than 10 million won or a jail term of less than 3 years, but more importantly, it is one of five corruptive activities the president has singled out as reasons that should disqualify a person from a high government post.
Nine other minister-nominees named up until Tuesday have yet to go through a parliamentary hearing.
The two appointed so far are Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon and Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon, who doubles as a deputy prime minister for economy.
The president also has three more ministers to replace those who were appointed by his ousted predecessor Park Geun-hye.
Meanwhile, the president also named three new vice ministers, along with a new standing commissioner of the Korea Communications Commission (KCC), a vice- ministerial post.
Kim Hyun-soo, incumbent deputy minister of agriculture, food and rural affairs, has been promoted to vice minister of his ministry, with Lee In-ho, the incumbent deputy minister for policy at the ministry of trade, industry and energy, has been appointed the new first vice minister.
Lee Sook-jin, a former head of a private think tank on gender equality who is currently working with the Korea Foundation for Women, has been named the new vice minister of gender equality, according to the Cheong Wa Dae spokesman.
Ko Sam-seog, a former standing commissioner of the KCC, was again appointed to the KCC post, five days after his earlier term ended.