South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has nominated a former senior finance ministry official, a veteran lawyer and an academic economist to lead three of the country’s most powerful economic regulators, in a reshuffle aimed at sharpening policy execution across the financial and competition sectors.
Lee Eog-weon, a special professor of economics at Seoul National University and former first vice finance minister, was tapped to lead the Financial Services Commission (FSC), Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik said in a briefing on Wednesday.
The appointment marks the return of a career economic policymaker who served in key macroeconomic posts across the finance ministry and presidential office, including as economic policy secretary during the Moon Jae-in administration.
Born in 1967, Lee studied economics at Seoul National University and earned a doctorate in economics at the University of Missouri.
He played a central role in coordinating Korea’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic-caused economic downturn, according to the presidential office.
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For the top post at the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), appointed by the president upon the FSC chair’s recommendation, the government named Lee Chan-jin, a lawyer and head of the first social affairs subcommittee at the state affairs planning commission.
Born in 1964, the new FSS chief studied law at Seoul National University and is a classmate of President Lee at the Judicial Research and Training Institute.
A former vice president of the progressive Lawyers for a Democratic Society and executive director at civic group People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, he has represented President Lee in high-profile legal cases, including a probe into alleged illicit North Korea payments.
The post of FSS governor had been vacant since June following the departure of Lee Bok-hyun.
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In a further appointment, Ju Biung-ghi, an economics professor at Seoul National University, was named as a nominee to chair the Fair Trade Commission (FTC).
The moves are part of a broader reshuffle covering six senior government and agency posts, as the Lee administration seeks to consolidate its economic policy team and strengthen regulatory leadership amid slowing growth and rising global uncertainty.
The nominees must undergo parliamentary confirmation hearings before they are formally appointed, though parliamentary approval is not required for them to take office.
By In-Soo Nam
isnam@hankyung.com
Jennifer Nicholson-Breen edited this article.
