Hyun Jung-taik, Policy coordinationHyun Jung-taik, new senior secretary for policy coordination, is an economy expert who started his career as a civil servant.
An economics graduate of Seoul National University, he passed the National Civil Service Examination in 1971 and served many years at the Finance Ministry.
He served as the senior presidential secretary for economy for late President Kim Dae-jung’s administration before heading the Korea Development Institute, the state-run think-tank. He also taught international trade at Inha University in Incheon.
Hyun holds a master’s degree in commerce from University of Massachusetts and a Ph.D. in economics from George Washington University.
(dyc@heraldcorp.com)
Woo Byung-woo, Civil affairs
Woo Byung-woo, a former senior prosecutor appointed as new senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, is best known for his 2009 bribery investigation involving former President Roh Moo-hyun.
He passed the bar exam in 1987 at age 20 and was in charge of high-profile investigations including the 2001 financial scandal involving C&G Group chairman Lee Yong-ho.
In 2009, Woo famously summoned then-President Roh for direct questioning on suspicion of receiving bribes from businessman Park Yeon-cha.
Woo, who has been serving at Cheong Wa Dae since last year as a secretary for civil affairs, is also known as one of the wealthiest public officials in the country. Last year, he reported 42.33 billion won ($38.1 million) in personal wealth.
He holds a bachelor of law degree from Seoul National University.
(dyc@heraldcorp.com)
Cho Shin, Future strategies
Cho Shin, new senior presidential secretary for future strategies, is a prominent expert in international communications technology, with a 25-year career in the private sector and academia.
At Cheong Wa Dae, the 57-year-old director of Yonsei University’s Institute of Convergence Technology and professor in its Graduate School of Information will help oversee efforts to kick-start President Park Geun-hye’s “creative economy” initiative and find ways to drive future growth, focusing on the fields of science and information communications technology.
A graduate of Seoul National University, Cho received a doctoral degree in economics at Washington University in St. Louis. He began his career in 1990 at a now-defunct state-run IT think tank and worked as head of ICT industry research at the Korea Information Society Development Institute.
He moved to SK Telecom in 1999 as chief of policy cooperation, later serving as a cochief executive at SK Communications and then president of SK Broadband. He began teaching at Yonsei in 2013.
(heeshin@heraldcorp.com)
