As Cabinet picks go public, can next health minister resolve med school crisis?

Korea Herald

13-06-2025

For the first time, the South Korean government is allowing ministers and vice ministers to be directly nominated by the public — with the task of finding a health minister who can normalize government relations with doctors at the center of attention.
High-profile names have been put forward, with last year's bruising standoff over medical school quotas and health care reform still not fully resolved.
Among the leading contenders for the health minister position include trauma surgeon and director of the Armed Forces Daejeon Hospital Lee Guk-jong, whose name was also the first to emerge in the public recommendation process, under the official endorsement of the Busan Medical Association.
Lee, who acquired the nickname of the 'hero of the Gulf of Aden' when he saved the life of Seok Hae-gyun, a Korean ship captain who was shot by Somali pirates during an anti-piracy operation in 2011. In 2017, Lee was also credited with leading the emergency treatment of a North Korean soldier who sustained multiple gunshot wounds.
A vocal critic of former President Yoon Suk Yeol's medical school reforms, Lee is regarded as one of Korea's key authorities in trauma surgery, spending years on the front lines of essential health care, such as serving as head of the Southern Gyeonggi Trauma Center.
Within the medical community, Lee is seen as a practitioner who understands frontline realities and could bring hands-on insight into policymaking, with his high public favorability also considered as a major asset.
In a statement Friday, the Medical Professors Association of Korea said the need to appoint a qualified health minister is more important than ever at a time when "the foundations of medical education and the health care system are collapsing."
"Before it is too late, we must halt the collapse of the national health care system and restore it," the statement read. "Resolving the current situation is extremely urgent and should be among the highest priorities of national policy."
Others step into spotlight
Former head of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency Jeong Eun-kyeong is also considered as a strong contender for the health minister post.
Jeong, who led Korea's response during the COVID-19 pandemic as the country's disease control chief, continues to hold high public trust over her past leadership.
However, whether Jeong will take the offer is unclear. According to local media reports, Jeong has expressed a desire to return to academia multiple times and has reportedly declined recent offers.
In the political sphere, Jeon Hyun-hee, a senior member of the Democratic Party of Korea, has also been recently mentioned.
While Lee Guk Jeong is known for his strengths in frontline medical care and Jeong Eun-kyeong is known for her leadership during the pandemic, Jeon is seen to be something like a 'hybrid' candidate, with background experience in law and political affairs.
A former dentist and lawyer, Jeon previously served as the chairman of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, demonstrating experience in public administration as well as medicine.
According to Lee Jae-myung's spokesperson Kang Yu-jung on Wednesday, up to 11,324 referrals have been submitted to the presidential office by the public as of Tuesday. The ministerial post for the Ministry of Health and Welfare drew the second-highest number of nominations, while the Justice Minister position saw the largest number of nominations.
Other names reportedly under consideration include Yang Sung-il, former first vice minister of health, who is viewed to hold strengths in executing welfare policies. Rep. Kang Cheong-hee, head of the Democratic Party's special health committee and professor at Yonsei University's College of Medicine, is also cited for his extensive experience with the National Health Insurance Service and the Health Ministry.
The presidential office will be taking recommendations for Cabinet ministers, vice ministers and heads of state-run institutions until June 16.
Recommendations filed to the National Human Resources Database will then be organized into a shortlist by the presidential office through a vetting process, in which the presidential secretary for civil service discipline will participate.