Park names KDI chief as deputy premier for economic affairs

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Park names KDI chief as deputy premier for economic affairs

Published: 17 Feb. 2013, 12:20

President-elect Park Geun-hye named the chief of the state-run Korean Development Institute Huyn Oh-seok as the deputy prime minister in charge of economic affairs, Park's transition team said Sunday.

   Park also named North Korean expert Ryoo Kihl-jae as unification minister in a series of nominations that also included nine other Cabinet posts, transition team chief Kim Yong-joon said.

   In her organizational shakeup of the incoming government, Park decided to elevate the status of the finance minister to deputy prime minister as part of efforts to promote the finance ministry's function as an economic "control tower."

   Hyun had served diverse positions in the finance ministry since 1973, and currently heads the Korean Development Institute (KDI).

   Unification Minister nominee Ryoo currently works as a professor at Seoul's University of North Korean studies, and heads the Korean Association of North Korean studies. [Yonhap]