(LEAD) (profile) Transportation expert named land and transport minister

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SEOUL, March 8 (Yonhap) -- President Moon Jae-in has named a transportation expert with decades of experience as the new land and transport minister in the latest Cabinet reshuffle aimed at energizing the two-year-old administration.

Choi Jeong-ho, 61, has been nominated to take charge of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and replace incumbent Kim Hyun-mee.

"If approved (as transport minister), I will concentrate on providing stable residences, more convenient transportation services and create a well-established social overhead capital that can benefit the public," Choi said in a statement released after he was named for the Cabinet post.

He is the "right person" to handle a wide range of residential, land and transportation issues as the career government official has considerable knowhow in such matters, the ministry said. It said Choi has held various posts in the land development and transportation fields.

The nominee was born in Iksan, North Jeolla Province, in 1958 and studied administration at Sungkyunkwan University. He began his career as a public official in 1985 when he passed the public administration examination.

Those tapped for key public office have to undergo parliamentary hearings, but their appointments do not require approval from the country's legislature.

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