SEOUL, June 29 (Yonhap) — Kim Jung-kwan, nominated as the first minister of trade, industry and energy under President Lee Jae Myung, is a former high-ranking bureaucrat with extensive experience in economic policy and currently serves as president of power equipment builder Doosan Enerbility.
The 53-year-old spent much of his public career at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, holding key positions in the International Finance Bureau and Economic Policy Bureau. He also served as a dispatched official to the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) in Washington.
Industry minister nominee Kim Jung-gwan (Yonhap)
In 2015, Kim became the first director-level official selected for an unprecedented personnel exchange between the finance ministry and the Bank of Korea (BOK). He was dispatched to the BOK as deputy director general of the central bank’s international department.
In 2018, he transitioned to the private sector as executive vice president at Doosan Enerbility. He later became executive vice president in charge of marketing in 2022 and was promoted to president earlier this year.
Under his leadership, Doosan Enerbility has strengthened its presence in the global nuclear energy market, contributing to the successful bid for the Dukovany nuclear power project in the Czech Republic.
The deal marked South Korea’s first overseas nuclear power plant contract since 2009, when it won the Barakah nuclear project in the United Arab Emirates.
“Kim is a key figure who combines the experience of an economic bureaucrat with hands-on expertise in the real-sector economy. He is expected to embody the president’s philosophy that now is the time to focus on growth,” Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik said during a briefing.
He earned a degree in economics from Seoul National University and later received a doctorate in economics from the University of Missouri in the United States.
kyongae.choi@yna.co.kr
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