Moon names key presidential aides

Moon Jae-in (far left) named key presidential aides at a press conference at Cheong Wa Dae on Wednesday. To his right are Lee Nak-yon (prime minister), Suh Hoon (National Intelligence Service head) and Im Jong-seok (chief of staff). / Yonhap

By Ko Dong-hwan

President Moon Jae-in made four key appointments Wednesday, a few hours after being sworn in as the 19th president of South Korea.

At a press conference at Cheong Wa Dae, Moon released the lineup and introduced them. He appointed South Jeolla Province Governor Lee Nak-yon as prime minister.

Moon also selected a negotiator point man for inter-Korean summits, Suh Hoon, naming him head of the National Intelligence Service.

Former student activist Im Jong-seok was appointed chief of staff, while a presidential security service official, Joo Young-hoon, was picked to head the service.

Meanwhile, Moon will likely choose a progressive activist and professor as his top secretary for civil affairs, a post that has long been held by former prosecutors, according to a source Yonhap news agency cited.

Moon reportedly will name Seoul National University law professor Cho Kuk, 52, to be in charge of personnel vetting and law enforcement affairs.

The appointment appears to be in line with the new president’s promise to create a "young, capable" secretariat.

Moon also reportedly tapped Cho Hyun-ock, a visiting politics professor at Ewha Womans University, as chief secretary for personnel affairs.