Medium-Scale Cabinet Reshuffle Announced: Lee Hyung-il Named Finance Minister, Hong Ji-sun for Land Ministry

[Anchor]

President Lee Jae-myung has abruptly carried out a cabinet reshuffle, nominating ministers for six ministries. This is the current administration's first medium-scale reshuffle, replacing about a third of the ministers across all 19 ministries. Current vice ministers have been promoted to head the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, which are responsible for real estate policy and tax revisions.

For our first report, here is reporter Kang Cheongwan.

[Reporter]

Today (August 30), nearly 1 year and 3 months after the launch of the Lee Jae-myung administration, President Lee implemented a cabinet reshuffle covering the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of National Defense, and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.

Lee Hyung-il, the current 1st Vice Minister of Economy and Finance who was nominated as the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, the economic command tower, was born in Daegu in 1971. He is a veteran bureaucrat who held key positions in the former Ministry of Strategy and Finance and served as the Presidential Secretary for Economic Policy during the Moon Jae-in administration.

[Kang Hoon-sik / Chief of Presidential Staff: (Nominee for Finance Minister Lee Hyung-il) has proven his execution capabilities, having led the introduction of a maximum oil price system to counter high oil prices originating from the Middle East.]

The nominee for Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, which oversees real estate policy, is also a bureaucrat, current 2nd Vice Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Hong Ji-sun.

Born in Donghae, Gangwon Province in 1970, she previously worked closely with President Lee when he served as Gyeonggi Province Governor, acting as the head of the Gyeonggi Province Urban Housing Bureau.

President Lee decided to appoint two-term Democratic Party lawmaker Lee So-young to the position of Minister of SMEs and Startups, which became vacant following former Minister Han Sung-sook's move to the Prime Minister's post.

[Kang Hoon-sik / Chief of Presidential Staff: To more quickly drive and more widely spread practical changes that the public can feel, we established 'ability-centered personnel appointments' as the sole criterion for the cabinet.]

A key Cheong Wa Dae official explained that promoting current vice ministers as nominees for the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport—which have recently pushed for real estate tax revision bills and other measures—means that while listening to public voices, the working-level line will be maintained so that the existing policy stance will not be significantly altered.

Cheong Wa Dae Policy Chief Kim Yong-bum, who has faced accountability demands from the conservative opposition and parts of the pan-ruling camp regarding single-stock leverage ETFs, was not included in this replacement list.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol canceled his attendance at the G20 Finance Ministers' Meeting today only to reverse his decision and attend, and it was also reported that incumbent ministers subject to replacement had not received separate notification of their replacement.

(Video Reporter: Ha Ryung | Video Editing: Lee Seung-jin | Design: Hwang Se-yeon, Lee Jong-jung)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.