KAIST prof. named future planning and science minister
By Kim Tae-gyu
Choi Mun-kee
President Park Geun-hye named Prof. Choi Mun-kee, 62, of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) to head the Ministry of Future Planning and Science, Thursday.
The nomination is expected to lead to proactive development of the homegrown fourth-generation mobile technology called WiBro, as Choi was one of its main architects.
Park also nominated Ewha Womans University Prof. Han Man-soo, 55, as the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) chief. Choi and Han worked for a think tank of the governing Saenuri Party during last year’s presidential campaign.
Park promoted Je Jeong-boo, the deputy head of the Ministry of Government Legislation, to its chief, and designated Chung Seung, 55, former vice agriculture minister, to lead the Korea Food and Drug Administration.
“We attached great importance to expertise. I think the careers of the nominees explain why they have been named,” presidential spokesman Yoon Chang-jung told a press conference at Cheong Wa Dae.
The Ministry of Future Planning and Science has been dubbed the centerpiece to achieve Park’s campaign pledge of developing a “creative economy,” aimed at boosting national output as well as offering decent jobs.
She originally tapped former Bell Labs head Kim Jeong-hoon to take charge of the crucial role but the Korean-American entrepreneur resigned last month citing the National Assembly impasse on the government reorganization bill.
Without the passage of the bill at the unicameral congress, the new ministry cannot be established.
A source close to Park said that when Kim left, he recommended a few candidates to replace him. The source, who asked not to be named, added that Choi was not included on the list.
When Choi took charge of the state-run Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) between 2006 and 2009, he spearheaded the upgrade of WiBro to WiBro Advanced.
Although the current fourth-generation mobile telephony market is dominated by Long-Term Evolution (LTE), analysts point out that WiBro, a short form for wireless broadband, also has great promise for finding niche markets on the global scene.
Samsung Electronics, the world’s foremost handset producer, is a main private partner in developing WiBro and WiBro Advanced. Hence, Choi’s appointment is expected to benefit the technology giant.
Choi majored in applied mathematics at Seoul National University and received a Ph.D. in industrial engineering from North Carolina State University. He is the fourth former ETRI presidents to be named as info-tech or science minister.
FTC head-designate Han would oversee the implementation of policies for realizing “economic democratization,” one of Park’s top campaign pledges.
The Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province, native studied law at Seoul National University and is regarded as one of the most authoritative experts in taxation.
Both Choi and Park have to go through confirmation hearings before being officially appointed.