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From left, lawyer Wi Cheol-hwan, nominee for the National Election Commission; Lee Seok-yeon, nominee for chair of the National Unity Committee; Kim Jin-ae, chair of the National Architecture Policy Committee; Park Jin-young, JYP Entertainment founder and co-chair of the Committee on Cultural Exchange; and Jo Sung-joo, new senior presidential secretary for personnel. / Source: Presidential Office, Yonhap News

President Lee Jae-myung on September 9 nominated Lee Seok-yeon, 71, former head of the Ministry of Government Legislation, as chair of the presidential National Unity Committee.

Lee also appointed lawyer Wi Cheol-hwan, 67, as a candidate for the National Election Commission, and named Culture Minister Choi Hwi-young, 61, together with JYP Entertainment founder and producer Park Jin-young, 53, as co-chairs of the newly established Committee on Cultural Exchange.

In a press briefing at the presidential office in Yongsan, Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik announced the appointments. He described Wi as “a legal professional with more than 30 years of experience, who served as the first directly elected president of the Korean Bar Association,” adding that he was the right person to “protect democratic procedures from reckless conspiracy theories undermining elections and to build a trusted election commission.”

Introducing Lee Seok-yeon, Kang said, “He has served as a constitutional researcher at the Constitutional Court, secretary-general of the Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice, and head of the Ministry of Government Legislation under the Lee Myung-bak administration. In line with the president’s will to embrace all citizens, he will take on the role of uniting the people and healing social conflicts.”

In addition, President Lee appointed former lawmaker Kim Jin-ae, 72, as chair of the National Architecture Policy Committee, and created a new senior personnel secretary position, to which Jo Sung-joo, 58, head of the Korea Law Information Center, was named.

Kang explained the need for the new post, noting, “Special counsel investigations have revealed allegations of First Lady Kim Kun-hee’s involvement and other personnel-related suspicions. Over the past 100 days, it became clear that we need a role overseeing changes in personnel systems and talent recruitment, and the new senior personnel secretary will take charge of this task.”