Law firm YulChon said on the 17th that it hired Kang Do-tae, former second vice minister of the Ministry of Health and Welfare and former head of the National Health Insurance Service, as a senior advisor.
Kang passed the 35th administrative exam in 1991 and entered public service, then mainly worked at the ministry, building expertise in health care policy.
After serving in the Health Industry Policy Division of the ministry and on secondment to the presidential office, as administrative and legal affairs officer, head of the population and women policy team, director-general for social policy advancement, director-general of health insurance policy, director-general for health care policy, head of the Health Care Policy Office, and Deputy Minister for Planning and Coordination, Kang became the inaugural second vice minister for health and later served as the ninth head of the National Health Insurance Service.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, as the second vice minister, Kang served as the chief general coordinator of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, working on infectious disease response and vaccine introduction. Afterward, while serving as a distinguished professor at the Graduate School of Public Health at Korea University, Kang taught health policy and health insurance policy, and as Chairperson of the National Health Insurance Financial Operation Committee, also led the 2026 health insurance fee negotiations.
YulChon said of Kang, "a widely respected figure with extensive experience in both designing health policy and operating systems," adding, "In YulChon's healthcare and pharmaceuticals team, Kang will play a central role in policy and regulatory response for the health industry and for medical, pharmaceutical, and healthcare corporations."