Senior officials at the health authorities are moving to academia and the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors after retirement. It is a trend of "career bureaucrats" who handled policy and regulation shifting to the field and broadening their scope of activity.
According to the medical and pharmaceutical sectors on the 23rd, major universities are recruiting former senior officials from the health authorities to strengthen policy and research capabilities, while pharmaceutical companies are also actively seeking to bring in former bureaucrats to enhance regulatory response and upgrade business strategies.
Lee Ki-il and Park Min-soo, former Vice Ministers who served as the first and second vice ministers under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration after more than 30 years at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, both moved to academia.
Lee Ki-il, former first vice minister at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, took office as dean of the Graduate School of Urban Public Health at the University of Seoul after retiring last year. He plans to focus on training talent to address complex public health issues such as urban infectious disease response, the climate crisis, and low birthrates and an aging population. Director Lee oversaw the ministry as second and then first vice minister under the Yoon administration after serving as director general for health insurance policy and head of the health care policy office.
Park Min-soo, former second vice minister at the welfare ministry who was at the center of conflict with the medical community over the policy to increase medical school enrollment, was recently appointed as a professor in the department of public administration at Catholic Kwandong University. He plans to conduct research in the areas of national growth and social security. However, once the news became public, opposition from the university's medical school faculty and students continued, causing turmoil.
Immediately after retiring, former Vice Minister Park also served as CEO of the management consulting firm NOVAPEA, engaging in investment advisory and mergers and acquisitions (M&A).
Ji Young-mi, former commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, a key figure in the COVID-19 response, also returned to the research and education field. While serving as director of the Institut Pasteur Korea, Ji was tapped to lead the agency, and after stepping down moved to a professorship at the Institut Pasteur Korea School at the University of Science and Technology (UST).
Moves to the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors also stand out. It is seen as reflecting demand to strengthen corporations' strategy development and regulatory response capabilities based on policy experience.
Former Vice Minister Lee Ki-il was also recently appointed as an outside director at HLB Pharmaceutical. Kwon Deok-cheol, former Minister who served as the first Minister of Health and Welfare under the Moon Jae-in administration, became an adviser at Shin & Kim LLC before being named an outside director at Ilsung IS in February. The industry expects them to read policy trends and manage external risks.
Those with backgrounds at the Ministery of Food and Drug Safety are also heading to corporations one after another. Lee Eui-kyung, former Ministery of Food and Drug Safety Commissioner, joined SK bioscience as a member of the audit committee. Given the company's nature of pursuing both in-house vaccine development and contract development and manufacturing (CDMO), it is interpreted as a move to bolster expertise, as clinical trials, approvals, and regulatory strategy are of great importance.
CKD BiO appointed Park In-suk, former head of the Biopharmaceuticals and Herbal Medicines Evaluation Department at the National Institute of Food and Drug Safety Evaluation (NIFDS), as an outside director. By recruiting a figure from the key department responsible for approving biopharmaceuticals, the company aims to strengthen the competitiveness of its active pharmaceutical ingredients.
Hanmi Pharmaceutical appointed Chae Yi-bae, a certified public accountant and former lawmaker in the 20th National Assembly, as an outside director. The National Pension Service cast a vote against the appointment proposal, but it was ultimately approved. Chae's term begins conditionally from the time he receives employment approval from the Gyeonggi-do Public Officials Ethics Committee, and the approval timing is expected to be determined this month according to procedures by the relevant authorities.
In the industry, some say, "As those who designed policy and regulation move to corporations and academia, cases of leveraging their experience are increasing," while also noting, "At the same time, managing conflicts of interest between public service experience and private-sector activity is required."