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| Kim Seung-hee |
Cheong Wa Dae appointed Kim Seung-hee as the new minister for food and drug safety, Monday.
Kim, 61, has served as vice minister at the ministry since December 2011.
"She has shown professionalism through her extensive work at the ministry," Cheong Wa Dae's spokesman Min Kyung-wook said.
Born in Seoul, Kim earned a degree in pharmacology from Seoul National University. She also received a doctorate in biochemistry from the University of Notre Dame.
Since joining the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in 1988, she spent a significant amount of time at the National Institute of Toxicological Research. In April 2009, she became the institute's director.
In the same month, the institute changed its name to the National Institute of Food and Drug Safety Evaluation, and she was appointed to lead the new institute. She served there for two years, before being appointed as the vice minister in 2011.
Kim's appointment came after her predecessor, Chung Seung, resigned last month to run in the parliamentary by-elections next month.
