Ruling party appoints first-ever press officer for foreign media

Former World Bank senior economist Choi Ji-eun, third from right, poses with other members of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) after joining the party in January. The DPK said Tuesday Choi Ji-eun would be its spokeswoman for the foreign press. / Yonhap

By Yi Whan-woo

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) has named its first-ever press officer for foreign media to better cope with growing international interest in the party and Korean politics.

The DPK said Tuesday it had appointed former World Bank senior economist Choi Ji-eun as its spokeswoman for the international press. Choi, 40, left the World Bank and joined the DPK in January as one of the party's new recruits in the lead-up to the April 15 general election.

In the mid-2000s, one of the DPK's precursors, the Yeollin Uri Party, had its deputy spokesperson deal with international journalists.

But this is the first time in the history of the DPK and its predecessors that a spokesperson has been given such a task.

“We have elevated the level of the party's press officer for the foreign media as a spokesperson, in response to demand for coverage by the foreign press,” a party official said.

Choi is fluent in English, Mandarin Chinese and speaks French to a conversational level.

During her career at the World Bank from 2013 to 2020, Choi was a senior country economist for China, and a senior economist with the Office of the Chief Economist, Africa Region. She also worked at the World Bank's Finance, Competitiveness and Innovation Global Practice, Eastern Europe and Central Asia region.

Before joining the World Bank, she worked at the African Development Bank (AfDB) and Samsung Electronics

Choi was a country economist for Egypt at the AfDB and was one of the first Samsung employees working in the telecommunication sector in Vietnam.

Born in Busan, Choi earned her bachelor's degree in economics at Sogang University, master's degree in public administration in international development at Harvard Kennedy School, and Ph. D in international development at the University of Oxford.

She ran as a DPK candidate in a Busan constituency in the April 15 general election but lost to Kim Do-eun of the main opposition United Future Party.

Political sources said Choi's appointment is “timely and appropriate” to facilitate communication with international journalists and provide them with accurate information for their reports related to Korea.

The DPK also announced that Heo Yun-jung, a first-term lawmaker and former chief of the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, has been appointed as its spokeswoman.

The appointment of new press officers comes as the party prepares for the new 21st National Assembly. The unicameral 300-member Assembly will begin its term May 30.

Among the 155 first-time lawmakers-elect, 57 of them were women, including 20 from the DPK.

Meanwhile, Cheong Wa Dae said BS TV Tokyo, a Japanese TV station, “expressed willingness for an apology and correction” for mistakenly identifying the first lady of South Korea Kim Jung-sook as the wife of the late North Korean founder Kim Il-sung, who was also named Kim Jung-sook.

BS TV Tokyo used a photo of the current first lady when introducing the three-generation lineage of North Korea.