New heads of DAPA, weather agency named

From left: Eom Dong-hwan , Yoo Hee-dong

President Yoon Suk-yeol named heads of the state arms procurement agency and weather administration on Wednesday.

Eom Dong-hwan, a senior official at the Agency for Defense Development (ADD), was tapped as minister of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), according to the presidential office.

Eom has served in various posts at the DAPA, established under the Defense Ministry. In 2005, Eom was part of a preparatory committee which formally launched the DAPA in 2006. He also held various positions in the DAPA dealing with tank projects, acquisition policy and firepower systems.

Eom also worked as a researcher at the Korea Institute of Machinery & Materials.

Since, June 2020 he served as director of the ADD's Defense Industry Technology Center.

A native of Ulsan, Eom is a graduate of the Korea Military Academy and earned a masters' degree in systems engineering from the U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology and a doctorate in systems engineering from Korea University.

Yoo Hee-dong, deputy chief of the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA), was named its new administrator.

He joined the KMA in 1990 as a meteorological researcher and served in key positions including head of the climate science bureau and chief of the Busan Regional Meteorological Administration. Yoo became deputy chief of the KMA in January 2021.

Born in Seoul, Yoo earned both bachelors' and masters' degrees from Yonsei University's Department of Astronomy and Meteorology and his doctorate from the University of Oklahoma.

Yoo said Wednesday the KMA is committed to "providing weather information in a prompt and accurate manner, to ensure that people can enjoy a safe and comfortable way of life and economic benefits" and also to "promptly deliver earthquake and disaster-related information to the public to help them avoid being placed in danger."

He noted that the KMA also helps contribute to developing national policies to respond to climate change and "utilizes weather and climate big data to support industrial economic activities."

Both new chiefs are considered traditional bureaucrats.

The presidential office also named vice ministerial-level posts, including Park Ku-yeon as first vice minister of the Office for Government Policy Coordination and Lee Jung-won as the second vice minister.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]