President Lee Jae-myung appointed Nam Jae-heon, head of the Arctic Route Promotion Headquarters at the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF), as the new Vice Minister of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. Cheong Wa Dae said he is a career bureaucrat who served as director general for ports at the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and head of the Busan North Port Integrated Development Promotion Team, and assessed that he has both expertise and drive.
Chief presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung on the 21st announced the personnel appointment. Kang, the chief spokesperson, said of Nam, the new Vice Minister, that "as the inaugural head of the Arctic Route Promotion Headquarters, he steadily laid the groundwork for pioneering the Arctic route and creating a maritime capital area, including the enactment of the Special Act on the Arctic Route," explaining the background of the appointment by noting that he has both the ability to drive tasks forward and to solve problems.
The appointment appears to emphasize the Arctic route and maritime capital initiative, a key pledge of the Lee Jae-myung administration. Cheong Wa Dae said it took into account that Vice Minister Nam, as the inaugural head of the Arctic Route Promotion Headquarters, established the related foundation, including the enactment of the Special Act on the Arctic Route. Kang, the chief spokesperson, said, "Based on his expertise in the maritime and fisheries field, he is the right person to lead the era of the Arctic route and to build a global maritime power by completing the maritime capital."