Yoon likely to name new police chief, promote his secretaries soon

Preident Yoon Suk Yeol (center) enters the meeting room before a Cabinet meeting held in his office in Seoul Tuesday. (Yonhap)

President Yoon Suk Yeol will reportedly name a new chief for South Korea's National Police Agency as well as nominate new and replace some ministers later this week.

According to news reports, Jo Ji-ho, the incumbent chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, will likely be nominated as chief of the Korean National Police Agency. A KNPA chief nominee -- a vice-minister-level official in South Korea -- is required to go through a parliamentary hearing at the National Assembly.

Yoon will also reportedly name Kim Seong-seop, presidential secretary for SMEs and startups, as the new vice SMEs minister, and nominate Park Sung-taek, secretary for industrial policy, as the Industry Ministry's first vice minister.

All eyes are also on whether Yoon later this week will replace some of the ministers who have stayed in their posts for more than two years since his inauguration in May 2022.

Among the 19 minister posts in South Korea's Cabinet, Labor Minister Lee Jung-sik, Science Minister Lee Jong-ho, Education Minister Lee Ju-ho, Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong and Interior Minister Lee Sang-min have not been replaced since the beginning of the Yoon administration.

Among them, according to local reports, Yoon is considering replacing the labor minister and the science minister.

An official of the presidential office said on condition of anonymity that it has yet to determine when the nominations would take place. The official added that the nominations "are not meant to turn the tide" in favor of Yoon.

Yoon nominated three ministerial-level figures in his most recent Cabinet shakeup on July 4. Awaiting parliamentary hearings are Environment Minister nominee Kim Wan-sup, Financial Services Commission chief nominee Kim Byoung-hwan, and Korea Communications Commission chair nominee Lee Jin-sook.

As the opposition dominates the National Assembly due to the ruling bloc's general election defeat in April, Yoon has primarily focused on vice-minister-level nominations, as minister-level nominations require parliamentary hearings.

Earlier in June, Yoon appointed four vice-ministerial officials including chiefs of the national tax, fire and weather agencies, as well as the first vice minister of the Office for Government Policy Coordination. Yoon announced seven more vice-minister-level nominations on July 4.

On Monday, Yoon's former spokesperson Kim Soo-kyung was nominated as the new vice unification minister, effective Tuesday.

Attention is also being paid to the nomination of a new senior presidential secretary dedicated to addressing South Korea's population crisis, as Yoon's office reportedly seeks a female candidate for the position.

By Son Ji-hyoung(consnow@heraldcorp.com)