President Lee Jae Myung's selection of 11 new ministerial candidates, announced at the start of the week, comes across as fresh and unconventional. The nominees include a mix of top corporate figures, Ahn Gyu-back as the first defense minister nominee in decades to not have been a career military officer and Kim Young-hoon, a former train operator who had been head of the Korean Railway Workers' Union and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions.
After announcing Ha Jung-woo, former head of Naver AI Innovation Center, as the new senior presidential secretary for artificial intelligence (AI), Bae Kyung-hoon, chief of LG AI Research, was tapped for science minister. Both are expected to play a critical role in the administration's goal to make Korea one of the Top 3 AI powerhouses through investing 100 trillion won ($73.5 billion) over the next five years.
Bae and Ha are well-versed in AI technology and previously worked with the government in policy consultations. The two have indicated they are on the same page when it comes to achieving the administration's AI strategy through strengthening computing infrastructure, nurturing and retaining experts and fostering a domestic AI ecosystem. As governance, politics and the economy mesh more intricately by the day, there is expectation that their corporate spirit will inject a sense of confidence in the government.
In his first talk with the press, Bae said that Korean AI has "underlying power." Ha is known as a proponent of sovereign AI, or a nation's capability to produce AI using its own infrastructure, data and workforce. The administration's challenge lies in how it reconfigures the sector with these experts, especially with the U.S. and China competing intensely over AI technology leadership. Any concerns surrounding their nominations are primarily around how they will interact with government bureaucracy. However, we believe there is a general public consensus that a fresh burst of talent and energy will facilitate the path forward for the administration.
Also, tapping Han Seong-sook of Naver as minister of SMEs and startups and Yoon Chang-ryul, formerly of LG, for the Office for Government Policy Coordination is likely to bring the same sense of optimism and forward motion. In particular, their expertise and global business networks can facilitate government-private sector cooperative initiatives.
Corporate figures serving in government are not novelties in other countries. But in conservative Korea with its well-established civil service, a tendency for defending administrative turf has raised the entry barrier for business figures. Another major hurdle to the recruitment of people with corporate experience is the Public Service Ethics Act, which has strict standards for nominees to report assets, as well as the requirement to sell or place in blind trust their stocks totaling 30 million won or more. With parliamentary hearings coming up, it's time to review whether the current threshold serves the overall public interest and discuss alternatives, if needed.
So far, after less than a month in office, the president's actions in foreign affairs and his choice of Cabinet nominees are being well received as unconventional but largely in tune with his administration's overarching theme of "pragmatism." It also fits with the president's emphasis on the economy in his public statements, including those on the day before the 75th anniversary of the outbreak of the 1950-53 Korean War. "Peace brings rice and peace is economy," he said Tuesday.
The president, having earned credit for these choices, should soon name his nominees for both the finance and trade ministries.
Other unconventional choices in Lee's nominations should also be noted including Ahn and Kim. The retention of Song Mi-ryung, originally appointed as agriculture minister by former President Yoon Suk Yeol, is also notable. She was able to keep her seat as minister because of her expertise and ability, despite lingering controversy over her attendance at a Dec. 3 Cabinet meeting where Yoon announced his martial law plan. These choices come across as smart moves. The public first and foremost supports pragmatism with the national interest in mind.