Yoon to announce 2 remaining Cabinet nominees

By Lee Haye-ah

SEOUL, April 14 (Yonhap) -- President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol will announce his nominees for agriculture and labor ministers Thursday to complete his first Cabinet lineup, his chief of staff said.

Yoon, who has so far made nominations for 16 out of 18 Cabinet positions, will announce the last two nominees at a press conference at 2 p.m., according to Rep. Chang Je-won, who is serving as Yoon's chief of staff during the transition period.

No presidential staff will be announced in Thursday's press conferece, Chang said.

"Since a chief of staff has been chosen, that has to be discussed with him," Chang said.

For labor minister, the leading candidates include Park Ji-soon, head of Korea University Graduate School of Labor Studies, and Nam Sung-il, professor emeritus of economics at Sogang University.

For agriculture minister, contenders include Chung Hwang-keun, former presidential secretary for agriculture, and Rep. Lee Yong-ho of Yoon's People Power Party.

Once the Cabinet lineup is complete, Yoon is expected to announce the first members of his presidential office, including his national security adviser and senior secretaries for political and economic affairs.

Kim Sung-han, Yoon's childhood friend and foreign policy mentor, is widely mentioned as his first national security adviser, while former Rep. Lee Jin-bok and Kim So-young, an economics professor at Seoul National University, are considered likely to be named senior secretaries for political affairs and economic affairs, respectively.

On Wednesday, Yoon tapped Kim Dae-ki, an economic technocrat, for his first chief of staff.

He also nominated Rep. Park Jin, a politician well versed in relations with the United States, as foreign minister, and Han Dong-hoon, his closest prosecutor colleague, as justice minister.

hague@yna.co.kr
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