President Lee Jae-myung on the 7th nominated Han Seong-sook (59), Minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, as the new prime minister. Entering the second year of the administration, it appears he placed emphasis on a leader from the business community to accelerate economic growth and six major structural reforms across society. If the nominee passes the National Assembly confirmation hearing and takes office as prime minister, she will become the first female prime minister in 20 years since Han Myeong-sook in 2006 under the Roh Moo-hyun administration.
Presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik said that, based on experience as an IT company CEO and as Minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the nominee is expected to fully carry out the era-defining task of the AI transformation without setbacks and to lead growth for all of Korea, not just some people, as the right person for the job, announcing Han's selection.
In the meantime, President Lee repeatedly weighed Kang, the chief of staff, Jung Sung-ho, the Minister of Justice, and the Minister Han as successors to Prime Minister Kim Min-seok. However, by appointing Minister Han, who was considered relatively less likely, the move is being described as an unconventional personnel choice. Prime Minister Kim is resigning as the first prime minister of the Lee Jae-myung administration and will run for chair in the Democratic Party of Korea's national convention scheduled for late August or early September.
Kang said, the nominee is a self-made figure who started as an ordinary office worker and rose to the helm of a leading digital corporations, adding, as someone who combines private-sector practicality and innovativeness, the nominee knows better than anyone the need for our society's AI transformation. He also said, as Minister, the nominee emphasized speed, results, and the field, and has worked for growth for everyone, including SMEs and small business owners, and delivered tangible results such as achieving a record high in SME exports and revitalizing the startup ecosystem.
Kang said, if the nominee's innovativeness, experience as Minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS), and the opportunity of serving as prime minister are combined, the growth of the Korean economy driven by a semiconductor boom and rising exports can be converted into growth for everyone, including SMEs, small business owners, and neighborhood commercial districts.
The nominee graduated from Uijeongbu Girls' High School and Sookmyung Women's University with a degree in English, and worked in major IT companies such as Empas and NHN. She became president and CEO of Naver in 2017 and led the company until 2022. In July last year, she took office as the first Minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) in the Lee Jae-myung administration.