2 Women Head Health Ministry
By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
For the first time in Korea, women will head the Health, Welfare and Family Affairs Ministry, with Jeon Jae-hee named minister and Lee Bong-hwa vice minister.
Jeon studied law at Yeungnam University in Daegu. She was the first woman to pass the civil servant examination and worked at the Labor Ministry before being elected to parliament in 2000 under the Grand National Party.
She also served as mayor of Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi Province.
Lee worked for the Seoul Metropolitan Government before becoming vice minister. She was also the only woman director in the city government, and claimed she fought prejudice in the male-dominated bureaucracy.