Health minister nominee Jeong Eun-kyeong, disease specialist who spearheaded battle against COVID-19

Jeong Eun-kyeong (Yonhap)

Jeong Eun-kyeong, President Lee Jae Myung's pick to head the Ministry of Health and Welfare, earned nationwide fame during her tenure as the inaugural commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.

The 60-year-old was at the forefront of the nation's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and headed the KDCA as a vice minister-level official from September of 2020 to May 2022. She joined Lee's presidential campaign this year, ahead of the June 3 presidential election.

Jeong had risen through the ranks of the KDCA’s forerunner National Institute of Health since joining in 1955, then through the KDCA as an expert in disease control.

If her appointment to the minister post is confirmed, it would be the first time since 2017 that a medical doctor would be heading the Health Ministry.

One of her tasks as the new health minister would be to resolve the ongoing confrontation between the government and the medical circles, which has been going on since February of last year when trainee doctors across the country engaged in a mass walkout.