President Lee Jae-myung appointed Yeoongbeom Cho, the head of the Budget Office, as the new Vice Minister of the Ministry of Planning and Budget on July 20. This appointment comes just ten days after the previous Vice Minister, Kim Ik-geun, was named the head of the Office for Government Policy Coordination.
Chief Presidential Spokesperson Kang Yoo-jung stated in a written briefing that "the new Vice Minister Cho is a top expert in the fields of budget and finance, having held key positions including that of Budget Office head."
Cho graduated from Seoul National University with a degree in law and holds a master's degree in public policy from the Korea Development Institute (KDI) and a master's degree in law from the University of Wisconsin.
He began his public service career after passing the 39th National Administrative Examination and has served in various roles within the Ministry of Economy and Finance, including as the Director of Budget Coordination, Director of Budget Policy, Director of Agricultural, Marine, and Fisheries Budget, Director of Administrative Budget, and Director of Budget Standards. He later moved to the Presidential Office, where he worked as an administrative officer in the Economic Policy Office.
After returning to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, he served as spokesperson and then as the Budget Coordination Director before being promoted to head of the Budget Office in December of last year. He is regarded as a person of both capability and character within the ministry.
Spokesperson Kang noted, "He has been recognized for his contributions to stabilizing people's livelihoods and recovering the economy, having passed the supplementary budget for overcoming the Middle East war crisis in the shortest time this year and exceeding fiscal execution targets." She added that he is expected to establish a mid- to long-term national development strategy based on his expertise in budget and finance, and to support South Korea's leap forward through investments in future response strategies such as artificial intelligence (AI).
* This article has been translated by AI.
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