Experienced bureaucrat tapped for agriculture minister
Agricultural Minister nominee Chung Hwang-keun / Yonhap
Agricultural Minister nominee Chung Hwang-keun is known for devising major policies on how to advance the agricultural industry and rural villages after spending most of his career at the ministry.
The 61-year-old Chung passed the exam for the civil service in 1984 after graduating from Seoul National University and joined the agriculture ministry the following year.
He has served in major positions there, including spokesperson and director for agricultural policy as well as farming and fishing village policy.
During the previous conservative administration of President Park Geun-hye, Chung was tapped as presidential secretary for agriculture, food and rural affairs and oversaw the country's key policy measures in the field for more than three years until 2016.
As a head of the Rural Development Administration through 2017, Chung focused on ways to modernize the country's agricultural sector and make rural villages sustainable.
President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol said Thursday that Chung is "the right person to not only resolve issues facing rural communities but also boost the competitiveness of the agriculture, forestry and livestock industries and develop them into future growth industries." (Yonhap)