New nominees tapped to lead Budget and Oceans ministries

SEOUL, March 2 - Nominees to fill two vacant ministerial posts were tapped as part of a minor cabinet reshuffle, Cheong Wa Dae said on Monday.

In a press briefing in Seoul, Lee Kyu-yeon, the presidential senior secretary for public relations and communications, said that President Lee Jae Myung, currently on a trip to Singapore and the Philippines, has named veteran lawmaker Park Hong-keun and senior official Hwang Jong-woo to head the Ministry of Planning and Budget and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, respectively.

The secretary said Park, a four-term lawmaker who previously served as the ruling Democratic Party (DP)'s floor leader and held other key positions helping to draw up the blueprint for the administration and other state affairs, is "the right person" to lead the inaugural ministerial post.

If Park is appointed after a confirmation hearing at the National Assembly, he will become the first budget minister to fill the post that has remained vacant since the previous nominee Lee Hye-hoon, a former lawmaker of the conservative People Power Party (PPP). She was tapped by the president in a surprise move late last year but was forced to resign about a month later amid allegations including tantrums toward subordinates, anger management issues, and suspicious real estate dealings.

As for Hwang, the secretary said the senior official, who previously held major posts at the Oceans Ministry and hails from Busan, would be well-suited to push ahead with the country's ambitious project to expand its Arctic shipping routes.

Once appointed, he will replace former Oceans Minister Jeon Jae-soo, who stepped down in December last year amid allegations of accepting bribes from the powerful religious sect Unification Church, also known as the Moonies.